Simple finite element codes in Occam on a transputer

Abstract

In recent years attention has turned from conventional ‘von Neumann’ computers to totally new computer architectures. Many surveys of these developments are available and a number of conferences have been held on the topic. One extremely interesting development is the transputer, or so‐called computer on a chip, designed and developed by the British company, Inmos. This exciting innovation has been backed by the SERC, who have launched an initiative entitled ‘Engineering Applications of Transputers’. Under the terms of this initiative, it is possible for British academics to obtain short term loans of transputer equipment, in order to evaluate it and to prepare more extensive research proposals, which would exploit the transputer. The authors obtained a loan of a single transputer board, for 8 months and were able to develop some programs for finite element analysis and for discrete vortex modelling of fluid flows. This paper describes the work carried out on finite elements. The purpose of the paper is to list and describe some simple working finite element programs written in Occam and to draw attention to their novel features.