PyLith v3.0.0 now available
I am pleased to announce the release of PyLith 3.0.0, a finite-element code designed to solve dynamic elastic problems and quasistatic viscoelastic problems in tectonic deformation.
This major release is the result of more than 5 years of work to overhaul the code in support of a wide range of new features.
You can download the source code and binaries from
https://geodynamics.org/resources/pylith
Documentation
https://pylith.readthedocs.org/en/v3.0.0
Migrating from version 2.X TO 3.0.0
Version 3.0.0 includes major changes to the underlying finite-element formulation and implementation in order to support a more flexible specification of the governing equations and higher order basis functions. These changes affect how simulations are defined. Parameter files for previous versions will need to be updated; the changes are too complex for a simple translation table. Some features present in v2.2.2, such as spontaneous rupture and finite strain, have not yet been implemented in the new formulation.
Release Notes
- Multiphysics
- Elasticity for linear isotropic materials and linear Maxwell, generalized Maxwell, and power law viscoelastic models
- Incompressible elasticity for linear isotropic materials
- Prescribed slip for quasistatic and dynamic simulations
- Higher order basis functions
Allow user to select order of basis functions independent of the mesh (which defines the geometry). This permits higher resolution for a given mesh. - Switch to using PETSc time-stepping (TS) algorithms
Replace simple Python-based time-stepping implementations with PETSc time-stepping algorithms that provide support for higher order discretization in time and real adaptive time stepping. - Static Green’s functions with user-specified discretization of fault slip impulses
- Import finite-element meshes from Cubit (Exodus II), Gmsh, and LaGriT
- Modular approach for initial conditions
- Output of subfields with user-defined basis order
- Simulation metadata with command line utility for searching metadata
- Convert to Python 3
- Convert LaTeX documentation to Sphinx + MyST
- Testing with the Method of Manufactured Solutions
- Automatically assign label value for fault cohesive cells (
id
setting is obsolete). - Use
description
for descriptive labels andlabel
andlabel_value
for tagging entities. PyLith’s use oflabel
andlabel_value
now corresponds to PETSc labels and label values.
Deprecated features
We plan to discontinue support for reading LaGriT mesh files in version 3.2. Gmsh provides an open-source alternative with a graphical user interface.
Known issues
- Running in parallel has a few minor bugs due to communication mismatches and over-aggressive error checking. We will be fixing these in the next week.
- We will be updating the 3D subduction zone example (examples/subduction-3d) to v3.0.0 in the next week, including providing the input mesh file; in the meantime do not attempt to run this example.
- We have included Gmsh in the binary packages. For Linux there are additional libraries that must be installed for Gmsh to run; these are associated with the graphical user interface and included in most default installations.
Contributors
- Brad Aagaard
- Matthew Knepley
- Charles Williams
- Robert Walker
- Chris Mills
- Shengduo Liu
- Thea Ragon
- Alex Berne
- Jed Brown
- Rey Koki
- Kali Allison
- Lorraine Hwang