Coupled applications on distributed resources

Coupled models are set to become increasingly important in all aspects of science and engineering as tools with which to study complex systems in an integrated manner. Such coupled, hybrid simulations typically communicate data between the component models of which they are comprised relatively infrequently, and so a Grid is expected to present an ideal architecture on which to run them. In the present paper, we describe a simple, flexible and extensible architecture for a two-component hybrid molecular-continuum coupled model (hybrid MD). We discuss its deployment on distributed resources and the extensions to the RealityGrid computational-steering system to handle coupled models.