# metis partitioning for structured multi-block grids

Metis is purpose-built for partitioning graphs and unstructured meshes one uses in finite element/volume methods, and it works great for this.

I have a 3D structured multi-block topology, where each $ni\times nj\times nk$ block can only be partitioned along planes, as opposed to an unstructured topology where the partitions can be drawn anywhere.

Is there any simple way to partition this kind of topology with metis?

• Constructing a graph where each vertex is a block is no problem; I do that for the load-balancing later for distributing the blocks to processors. I was a bit unclear; I don't want to allow only cutting between the blocks, but actually allow cutting blocks themselves along a plane -- e.g. a large $ni \times nj \times nk$ block could be partitioned into 2 $ni \times nj/2 \times nk$ blocks, or 4 $ni/2 \times nj \times nk/2$ blocks -- but not allowing arbitrary partitions like you do with unstructured grids. It has to be along a plane. – Aurelius Aug 1 '13 at 14:42