Parallel Finite Element Modeling of Earthquake Ground Response and Liquefaction

Parallel computing is a promising approach to alleviate the computational demand in conducting largescale finite element analyses. This paper presents a numerical modeling approach for earthquake ground response and liquefaction using the parallel nonlinear finite element program, ParCYCLIC, which is designed for distributed-memory message-passing parallel computer systems. In ParCYCLIC, finite elements are employed within an incremental plasticity, coupled solid-fluid formulation framework. A constitutive model calibrated by physical tests represents the salient characteristics of sand liquefaction and associated accumulation of shear deformations. Key elements of the computational strategy employed in ParCYCLIC include the development of a parallel sparse direct solver, the deployment of an automatic domain decomposer, and the use of the Multilevel Nested Dissection algorithm for the ordering of finite element nodes. Simulation results of centrifuge test models using ParCYCLIC are presented. Performance results from grid models and geotechnical simulations show that ParCYCLIC is efficiently scalable to a large number of processors.