Q260 : Memory Limits in MALZ.

Question
I am trying to run a large MALZ case, but I always run into the error "Cannot allocate memory for a critical array.". What can I do?

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Answer
Under Windows95, Windows98, and Windows Me, the program can't allocate more than 256 MB for a single array. This corresponds to 4000 conductors in MALZ. The limit is not as strict under WindowsNT: the conductor limit on this system is 5000, but could be increased if necessary.

To avoid the memory allocation error, you shoul make sure that the total number of conductor segments remains below those limits. Note that this number includes the segments that are generated by the conductor subdivision process.

There are several things you can do to reduce the number of conductors:
1. If your network contains dense meshes, reduce their density. This usually doesn't affect the computation accuracy appreciably and can greatly reduce the number of conductor segments.
2. Try and keep the subdivision number of the individual conductors as small as possible.
3. Sometimes, several conductors are lined up end-to-end and almost form a straight line. These can often be replaced by a single conductor.

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