A multi-GPU and CUDA-aware MPI-based spectral element formulation for ultrasonic wave propagation in solid media

Feilong Li; Fangxin Zou; Jing Rao

doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2023.107049

A multi-GPU and CUDA-aware MPI-based spectral element formulation for ultrasonic wave propagation in solid media

Ultrasonics. 2023 Sep:134:107049. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2023.107049. Epub 2023 Jun 1.

Authors

Feilong Li¹, Fangxin Zou², Jing Rao³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
² Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Electronic address: frank.zou@polyu.edu.hk.
³ School of Instrumentation and Opto-Electronic Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; School of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.

PMID: 37290255
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2023.107049

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a new multi-GPU-based spectral element (SE) formulation for simulating ultrasonic wave propagation in solids. To maximize communication efficiency, we purposely developed, based on CUDA-aware MPI, two novel message exchange strategies which allow the common nodal forces of different subdomains to be shared between different GPUs in a direct manner, as opposed to via CPU hosts, during central difference-based time integration steps. The new multi-GPU and CUDA-aware MPI-based formulation is benchmarked against a multi-CPU core and classical MPI-based counterpart, demonstrating a remarkable acceleration in each and every stage of the computation of ultrasonic wave propagation, namely matrix assembly, time integration and message exchange. More importantly, both the computational efficiency and the degree-of-freedom limit of the new formulation are actually scalable with the number of GPUs used, potentially allowing larger structures to be computed and higher computational speeds to be realized. Finally, the new formulation was used to simulate the interaction between Lamb waves and randomly shaped thickness loss defects on plates, showing its potential to become an efficient, accurate and robust technique for addressing the propagation of ultrasonic waves in realistic engineering structures.

Keywords: CUDA; CUDA-aware MPI; Multi-GPU; Spectral element formulation; Ultrasonic wave.