OVERHAUSER TRIANGULAR ELEMENTS FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL POTENTIAL PROBLEMS USING BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHODS

Interpolation to boundary data and one-dimensional Overhauser parabola blending methods are used to derive Overhauser triangular elements. The elements are C¹-continuous at inter-element nodes and no functional derivatives are required as nodal parameters. These efficient parametric representation elements are used to solve three-dimensional potential problems using the Boundary Element Method (BEM). Results obtained are generally as accurate as those obtained using Overhauser quadrilateral elements.