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Albany/FELIX: A parallel, scalable and robust, finite element, first-order Stokes approximation ice sheet solver built for advanced analysis

Journal Article · · Geoscientific Model Development (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
This paper describes a new parallel, scalable and robust finite element based solver for the first-order Stokes momentum balance equations for ice flow. The solver, known as Albany/FELIX, is constructed using the component-based approach to building application codes, in which mature, modular libraries developed as a part of the Trilinos project are combined using abstract interfaces and template-based generic programming, resulting in a final code with access to dozens of algorithmic and advanced analysis capabilities. Following an overview of the relevant partial differential equations and boundary conditions, the numerical methods chosen to discretize the ice flow equations are described, along with their implementation. The results of several verification studies of the model accuracy are presented using (1) new test cases for simplified two-dimensional (2-D) versions of the governing equations derived using the method of manufactured solutions, and (2) canonical ice sheet modeling benchmarks. Model accuracy and convergence with respect to mesh resolution are then studied on problems involving a realistic Greenland ice sheet geometry discretized using hexahedral and tetrahedral meshes. Also explored as a part of this study is the effect of vertical mesh resolution on the solution accuracy and solver performance. The robustness and scalability of our solver on these problems is demonstrated. Lastly, we show that good scalability can be achieved by preconditioning the iterative linear solver using a new algebraic multilevel preconditioner, constructed based on the idea of semi-coarsening.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE Office of Science; USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1208879
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1214225
Journal Information:
Geoscientific Model Development (Online), Journal Name: Geoscientific Model Development (Online) Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 8; ISSN 1991-9603
Publisher:
European Geosciences UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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