Radial integration boundary element method for acoustic eigenvalue problems

In this paper, the radial integration boundary element method is developed to solve acoustic eigenvalue problems for the sake of eliminating the frequency dependency of the coefficient matrices in traditional boundary element method. The radial integration method is presented to transform domain integrals to boundary integrals. In this case, the unknown acoustic variable contained in domain integrals is approximated with the use of compactly supported radial basis functions and the combination of radial basis functions and global functions. As a domain integrals transformation method, the radial integration method is based on pure mathematical treatments and eliminates the dependence on particular solutions of the dual reciprocity method and the particular integral method. Eventually, the acoustic eigenvalue analysis procedure based on the radial integration method resorts to a generalized eigenvalue problem rather than an enhanced determinant search method or a standard eigenvalue analysis with matrices of large size, just like the multiple reciprocity method. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed approach.     

Volume integration in the hypersingular boundary integral equation

The evaluation of volume integrals that arise in conjunction with a hypersingular boundary integral formulation is considered. In a recent work for the standard (singular) boundary integral equation, the volume term was decomposed into an easily computed boundary integral, plus a remainder volume integral with a modified source function. The key feature of this modified function is that it is everywhere zero on the boundary. In this work it is shown that the same basic approach is successful for the hypersingular equation, despite the stronger singularity in the domain integral. Specifically, the volume term can be directly evaluated without a body-fitted volume mesh, by means of a regular grid of cells that cover the domain. Cells that intersect the boundary are treated by continuously extending the integrand to be zero outside the domain. The method and error results for test problems are presented in terms of the three-dimensional Poisson problem, but the techniques are expected to be generally applicable.     

Degenerate scale for the analysis of circular thin plate using the boundary integral equation method and boundary element methods

In this paper, the degenerate scale for plate problem is studied. For the continuous model, we use the null-field integral equation, Fourier series and the series expansion in terms of degenerate kernel for fundamental solutions to examine the solvability of BIEM for circular thin plates. Any two of the four boundary integral equations in the plate formulation may be chosen. For the discrete model, the circulant is employed to determine the rank deficiency of the influence matrix. Both approaches, continuous and discrete models, lead to the same result of degenerate scale. We study the nonunique solution analytically for the circular plate and find degenerate scales. The similar properties of solvability condition between the membrane (Laplace) and plate (biharmonic) problems are also examined. The number of degenerate scales for the six boundary integral formulations is also determined. Tel.: 886-2-2462-2192-ext. 6140 or 6177     

Numerical solution of two-dimensional mixed problems with variable coefficients by the boundary-domain integral and integro-differential equation methods

This paper presents a formulation of the boundary-domain integral equation (BDIE) and the boundary-domain integro-differential equation (BDIDE) methods for the numerical solution of two-dimensional mixed boundary-value problems (BVP) for a second-order linear elliptic partial differential equation (PDE) with variable coefficients. The methods use a specially constructed parametrix (Levi function) to reduce the BVP to a BDIE or BDIDE. The numerical formulation of the BDIDE employs an approximation for the boundary fluxes in terms of the potential function within the domain cells; therefore, the solution is fully described in terms of the variation of the potential function along the boundary and domain. Linear basis functions localised on triangular elements and standard quadrature rules are used for the calculation of boundary integrals. For the domain integrals, we have implemented Gaussian quadrature rules for two dimensions with Duffy transformation, by mapping the triangles into squares and eliminating the weak singularity in the process. Numerical examples are presented for several simple problems with square and circular domains, for which exact solutions are available. It is shown that the present method produces accurate results even with coarse meshes. The numerical results also show that high rates of convergence are obtained with mesh refinement.     

The radial integration method for evaluation of domain integrals with boundary-only discretization

In this paper, a simple and robust method, called the radial integration method, is presented for transforming domain integrals into equivalent boundary integrals. Any two- or three-dimensional domain integral can be evaluated in a unified way without the need to discretize the domain into internal cells. Domain integrals consisting of known functions can be directly and accurately transformed to the boundary, while for domain integrals including unknown variables, the transformation is accomplished by approximating these variables using radial basis functions. In the proposed method, weak singularities involved in the domain integrals are also explicitly transformed to the boundary integrals, so no singularities exist at internal points. Some analytical and numerical examples are presented to verify the validity of this method.     

A generalized boundary integral equation for isotropic heat conduction with spatially varying thermal conductivity

In this paper we derive a generalized fundamental solution for the BEM solution of problems of steady state heat conduction with arbitrarily spatially varying thermal conductivity. This is accomplished with the aid of a singular nonsymmetric generalized forcing function, D, with special sampling properties. Generalized fundamental solutions, E, are derived as locally radially symmetric responses to this nonsymmetric singular forcing function, D, at a source point ξ. Both E and D are defined in terms of the thermal conductivity of the medium. Although locally radially symmetric, E varies within the domain as the source point, ξ changes position. A boundary integral equation is formulated. Examples of generalized fundamental solutions are provided for various thermal conductivities along with the corresponding forcing function, D. Here, four numerical examples are provided. Excellent results are obtained with our formulation for variations of thermal conductivity ranging from quadratic and cubic in one dimension to exponential in two dimensions. Problems are solved in regular and irregular regions. Current work is under way investigating extensions of this general approach to further applications where nonhomogeneous property variations are an important consideration.     

On solvability of a boundary integral equation of the first kind for Dirichlet boundary value problems in plane elasticity

The solution of a Dirichlet boundary value problem of plane isotropic elasticity by the boundary integral equation (BIE) of the first kind obtained from the Somigliana identity is considered. The logarithmic function appearing in the integral kernel leads to the possibility of this operator being non-invertible, the solution of the BIE either being non-unique or not existing. Such a situation occurs if the size of the boundary coincides with the so-called critical (or degenerate) scale for a certain form of the fundamental solution used. Techniques for the evaluation of these critical scales and for the removal of the non-uniqueness appearing in the problems with critical scales solved by the BIE of the first kind are proposed and analysed, and some recommendations for BEM code programmers based on the analysis presented are given.     

Numerical solution of the variation boundary integral equation for inverse problems

In this paper a procedure to solve the identification inverse problems for two‐dimensional potential fields is presented. The procedure relies on a boundary integral equation (BIE) for the variations of the potential, flux, and geometry. This equation is a linearization of the regular BIE for small changes in the geometry. The aim in the identification inverse problems is to find an unknown part of the boundary of the domain, usually an internal flaw, using experimental measurements as additional information. In this paper this problem is solved without resorting to a minimization of a functional, but by an iterative algorithm which alternately solves the regular BIE and the variation BIE. The variation of the geometry of the flaw is modelled by a virtual strainfield, which allows for greater flexibility in the shape of the assumed flaw. Several numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solution of the second-order one-dimensional hyperbolic telegraph equation by using the dual reciprocity boundary integral equation (DRBIE) method

In this paper, we use a numerical method based on the boundary integral equation (BIE) and an application of the dual reciprocity method (DRM) to solve the second-order one space-dimensional hyperbolic telegraph equation. Also the time stepping scheme is employed to deal with the time derivative. In this study, we have used three different types of radial basis functions (cubic, thin plate spline and linear RBFs), to approximate functions in the dual reciprocity method (DRM). To confirm the accuracy of the new approach and to show the performance of each of the RBFs, several examples are presented. The convergence of the DRBIE method is studied numerically by comparison with the exact solutions of the problems.     

Boundary value problems of elastodynamics under stationary moving forces using boundary integral equation method

The boundary value problem of elastodynamics is considered in cylindrical domains when acting boundary forces are moving with constant speed parallel to cylinder's axis. The fundamental solutions, boundary integral equations and integral representation of the solutions are constructed using distribution theory for three kinds of speed: subsonic, transonic and supersonic.     

A boundary element method for a second order elliptic partial differential equation with variable coefficients

A boundary element method is derived for solving a class of boundary value problems governed by an elliptic second order linear partial differential equation with variable coefficients. Numerical results are given for a specific test problem.     

Singularity extraction technique for integral equation methods with higher order basis functions on plane triangles and tetrahedra

A numerical solution of integral equations typically requires calculation of integrals with singular kernels. The integration of singular terms can be considered either by purely numerical techniques, e.g. Duffy's method, polar co‐ordinate transformation, or by singularity extraction. In the latter method the extracted singular integral is calculated in closed form and the remaining integral is calculated numerically. This method has been well established for linear and constant shape functions. In this paper we extend the method for polynomial shape functions of arbitrary order. We present recursive formulas by which we can extract any number of terms from the singular kernel defined by the fundamental solution of the Helmholtz equation, or its gradient, and integrate the extracted terms times a polynomial shape function in closed form over plane triangles or tetrahedra. The presented formulas generalize the singularity extraction technique for surface and volume integral equation methods with high‐order basis functions. Numerical experiments show that the developed method leads to a more accurate and robust integration scheme, and in many cases also a faster method than, for example, Duffy's transformation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Complex variable boundary integral method for linear viscoelasticity: Part II—application to problems involving circular boundaries

Complex variable integral equations for linear viscoelasticity derived in Part I [Huang Y, Mogilevskaya SG, Crouch SL. Complex variable boundary integral method for linear viscoelasticity. Part I—basic formulations. Eng Anal Bound Elem 2006; in press, doi:10.1016/j.enganabound.2005.12.007.] are employed to solve the problem of an infinite viscoelastic plane containing a circular hole. The viscoelastic material behaves as a Boltzmann model in shear and its bulk response is elastic. Constant or time-dependent stresses are applied at the boundary of the hole, or, if desired, at infinity. Time-dependent variables on the circular boundary (displacements or tractions in the direct formulation of the complex variable boundary integral method or unknown complex density functions in the indirect formulations) are represented by truncated complex Fourier series with time-dependent coefficients and all the space integrals involved are evaluated analytically. Analytical Laplace transform and its inversion are adopted to accomplish the evaluation of the associated time convolutions. Several examples are given to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the method. Generalization of the approach to the problems with multiple holes is discussed.     

Method of particular solutions for solving PDEs of the second and fourth orders with variable coefficients

The paper presents a new meshless numerical method for solving partial differential equations of the second and fourth orders with variable coefficients. The key idea of the method is the use of modified particular solutions which satisfy the homogeneous boundary conditions of the problem. This allows us to seek an approximate solution in the form which satisfies the boundary conditions of the initial problem. As a result we separate the approximation of the boundary conditions and the PDE inside the solution domain. Numerical experiments are carried out for accuracy and convergence investigations. A comparison of the numerical results obtained in the paper with the exact solutions or other numerical methods indicates that the proposed method is accurate in dealing with PDEs with variable coefficients.     

Analytical integration of the moments in the diagonal form fast multipole boundary element method for 3-D acoustic wave problems

A diagonal form fast multipole boundary element method (BEM) is presented in this paper for solving 3-D acoustic wave problems based on the Burton-Miller boundary integral equation (BIE) formulation. Analytical expressions of the moments in the diagonal fast multipole BEM are derived for constant elements, which are shown to be more accurate, stable and efficient than those using direct numerical integration. Numerical examples show that using the analytical moments can reduce the CPU time by a lot as compared with that using the direct numerical integration. The percentage of CPU time reduction largely depends on the proportion of the time used for moments calculation to the overall solution time. Several examples are studied to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of the developed diagonal fast multipole BEM as compared with earlier p³ fast multipole method BEM, including a scattering problem of a dolphin modeled with 404,422 boundary elements and a radiation problem of a train wheel track modeled with 257,972 elements. These realistic, large-scale BEM models clearly demonstrate the effectiveness, efficiency and potential of the developed diagonal form fast multipole BEM for solving large-scale acoustic wave problems.     

On the existence of Kassab and Divo''s generalized boundary integral equation formulation for isotropic heterogeneous steady state heat conduction problems

In this note, we prove that the boundary integral equation formulation for isotropic heterogeneous steady state conduction problems recently suggested Kassab and Divo is not general. We also obtain the complete integral representation for the new formulation which is of the boundary domain type instead of the boundary only type, as originally proposed by the above authors. The resulting integral equation representation possesess the same difficulty than previous BEM formulations of the problem, however the evaluation of the domain integral in the new formulations is simpler than those of previous formulations.     

Numerical expansion-iterative method for analysis of integral equation models arising in one- and two-dimensional electromagnetic scattering

Most integral equations of the first kind are ill-posed, and obtaining their numerical solution needs often to solve a linear system of algebraic equations of large condition number. So, solving this system may be difficult or impossible. Since many problems in one- and two-dimensional scattering from perfectly conducting bodies can be modeled by Fredholm integral equations of the first kind, this paper presents an effective numerical expansion-iterative method for solving them. This method is based on vector forms of block-pulse functions. By using this approach, solving the first kind integral equation reduces to solve a recurrence relation. The approximate solution is most easily produced iteratively via the recurrence relation. Therefore, computing the numerical solution does not need to directly solve any linear system of algebraic equations and to use any matrix inversion. Also, the method practically transforms solving of the first kind Fredholm integral equation which is inherently ill-posed into solving second kind Fredholm integral equation. Another advantage is low cost of setting up the equations without applying any projection method such as collocation, Galerkin, etc. To show convergence and stability of the method, some computable error bounds are obtained. Test problems are provided to illustrate its accuracy and computational efficiency, and some practical one- and two-dimensional scatterers are analyzed by it.     

Weak-form element differential method for solving mechanics and heat conduction problems with abruptly changed boundary conditions

Element differential method (EDM), as a newly proposed numerical method, has been applied to solve many engineering problems because it has higher computational efficiency and it is more stable than other strong-form methods. However, due to the utilization of strong-form equations for all nodes, EDM become not so accurate when solving problems with abruptly changed boundary conditions. To overcome this weakness, in this article, the weak-form formulations are introduced to replace the original formulations of element internal nodes in EDM, which produce a new strong-weak-form method, named as weak-form element differential method (WEDM). WEDM has advantages in both the computational accuracy and the numerical stability when dealing with the abruptly changed boundary conditions. Moreover, it can even achieve higher accuracy than finite element method (FEM) in some cases. In this article, the computational accuracy of EDM, FEM, and WEDM are compared and analyzed. Meanwhile, several examples are performed to verify the robustness and efficiency of the proposed WEDM.