A user`s guide for BREAKUP: A computer code for parallelizing the overset grid approach

Abstract

In this user`s guide, details for running BREAKUP are discussed. BREAKUP allows the widely used overset grid method to be run in a parallel computer environment to achieve faster run times for computational field simulations over complex geometries. The overset grid method permits complex geometries to be divided into separate components. Each component is then gridded independently. The grids are computationally rejoined in a solver via interpolation coefficients used for grid-to-grid communications of boundary data. Overset grids have been in widespread use for many years on serial computers, and several well-known Navier-Stokes flow solvers have been extensively developed and validated to support their use. One drawback of serial overset grid methods has been the extensive compute time required to update flow solutions one grid at a time. Parallelizing the overset grid method overcomes this limitation by updating each grid or subgrid simultaneously. BREAKUP prepares overset grids for parallel processing by subdividing each overset grid into statically load-balanced subgrids. Two-dimensional examples with sample solutions, and three-dimensional examples, are presented.