	SSP 1994 project summary:

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Echinodome Design Curves Using a Task Farm

The optimal shape for an underwater storage tank turns out to be very similar to that of a sea-urchin, hence "Echinodome". The shape function depends on the depth below sea level and the thickness and allowable stress of the material in question. Calculation of the shape function for a given set of parameters is a straightforward task, taking O(30 seconds) on a PC.

Design curves describing the variation of the resultant shell volume, diameter etc. with the parameters are of great use to engineers and involve the calculation of the shape function for many combinations of parameters. The generation of suites of curves is an ideal candidate for parallelisation using a task farm.

The project will involve the design and implementation of a task farm of shape-function solvers; parameter values will be read by a source program and farmed out on an "eager reader" basis.

Richard Boyd worked on this project.

Compressed PostScript of Richard's final report is available here (1273547 bytes) .

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