The COOLFluiD parallel architecture

Abstract

This paper discusses the parallel design of COOLFluiD (Computational Object Oriented Library for Fluid Dynamics), a state-of-the-art C++ framework for multi-physics simulations using multiple numerical methods on unstructured grids. By using advanced techniques and specific design patterns, flexibility and modularity are assured. COOLFluiD was recently adapted to support parallel computations on distributed memory machines. For this, a parallel layer was added, designed to minimize impact on both users and software developers, while maintaining high performance. From the user's point of view, parallelisation is fully transparent. The techniques making this possible will be discussed. Also presented is a technique for reconciling generic programming with libraries requiring explicit type information. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.