Software virtual machines for development of finite element systems

Abstract
The software virtual machine (SVM) concept is described as a methodology to reduce the manpower required to implement and maintain finite element software. A SVM provides the engineering programmer with high-level languages to facilitate the structuring and management of data, to define and interface process modules, and to manage computer resources. A prototype finite element system has been successfully implemented using the SVM approach. Development effort is significantly reduced compared to a conventional all-FORTRAN approach. The impact on execution efficiency of the SVM is described along with special procedures developed to minimize overhead in compute-bound modules. Planned extensions of capabilities in the SVM used by the authors are outlined.

This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit: