32.5.4 Partitioning the Mesh Manually and Balancing the Load

Automatic partitioning in the parallel solver (described in Section  32.5.3) is the recommended approach to mesh partitioning, but it is also possible to partition the mesh manually in either the serial solver or the parallel solver. After automatic or manual partitioning, you will be able to inspect the partitions created (see Section  32.5.7) and optionally repartition the mesh, if necessary. Again, you can do so within the serial or the parallel solver, using the Partitioning and Load Balancing dialog box. A partitioned mesh may also be used in the serial solver without any loss in performance.

Guidelines for Partitioning the Mesh

The following steps are recommended for partitioning a mesh manually:

1.   Partition the mesh using the default bisection method ( Principal Axes) and optimization ( Smooth).

2.   Examine the partition statistics, which are described in Section  32.5.7. Your aim is to achieve small values of Interface ratio variation and Global interface ratio while maintaining a balanced load ( Cell variation). If the statistics are not acceptable, try one of the other partition methods.

3.   Once you determine the best partition method for your problem, you can turn on Pre-Test (see Section  32.5.6) to improve it further, if desired.

4.   You can also improve the partitioning using the Merge optimization, if desired.

Instructions for manual partitioning are provided below.