In this paper, some issues related to effective parallel implementation of the combined finite-discrete element approach on PC clusters are discussed. Attention is focused on the interprocessor communications. Three communication schemes suitable for different problems are presented. The worker-to-manager scheme is easy to implement. The neighbour-toneighbour scheme is sophisticated for programming, and requires extra memory space, but has good overall performance for larger problems. The mixed worker-manager scheme can balance the difficulty in programming and the overall communication performance. The effects of subdomain buffer zone on communications are also demonstrated by numerical examples.