An Internet-based computing framework for the simulation of multi-scale response of structural systems

This paper presents a new Internet-based computational framework for the realistic simulation of multi-scale response of structural systems. Two levels of parallel processing are involved in this frame work: multiple local distributed computing environments connected by the Internet to form a cluster-to-cluster distributed computing environment. To utilize such a computing environment for a realistic simulation, the simulation task of a structural system has been separated into a simulation of a simplified global model in association with several detailed component models using various scales. These related multi-scale simulation tasks are distributed amongst clusters and connected to form a multi-level hierarchy. The Internet is used to coordinate geographically distributed simulation tasks. This paper also presents the development of a software framework that can support the multi-level hierarchical simulation approach, in a cluster-to-cluster distributed computing environment. The architectural design of the program also allows the integration of several multi-scale models to be clients and servers under a single platform. Such integration can combine geographically distributed computing resources to produce realistic simulations of structural systems.