We describe predictive load balancing schemes for use with parallel adaptive finite element methods. We provide an overview of an infrastructure suitable for distributed storage of finite element mesh data as well as software designed for mesh adaptation and load balancing. The predictive load balancing methods improve enrichment efficiency and reduce total balancing time by using a priori estimates of work needed for adaptive refinement and subsequent computation. Analysis codes developed with these components for solving compressible flow problems are used to obtain predictive load balancing results on an IBM SP2 computer. Our three-dimensional test problems involve compressible steady flow about a rotor blade and transient flow in a perforated shock tube.
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