MpCCI - The General Code Coupling Interface

There is an increasing need for multidisciplinary simulations in various research and engineering fields. Fluid-structure interaction, magneto-hydro dynamics, thermal coupling, plasma computations or coupled manufacturing processes define only a subset of recent multi-physics activities. There is a common feeling in the community that in most cases not a single (proprietary) simulation system can provide all necessary features but that coupling the best codes of each discipline will enable more flexibility and simulation quality to the end user. The MpCCI interface has been accepted as a ‘de-facto’ standard for simulation code coupling. MpCCI is developed at Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI). This article will describe the MpCCI concepts and some coupled applications. Some special emphasis will be put on ‘unusual’ code couplings like - N-Code-Interactions, - Fluid-Electro combinations, - FEM-FEM interactions, - 1D-3D coupling, and - coupling of commercial codes with in-house tools.