Approximate Green's functions in boundary integral analysis

It is well known that employing a Green's function which satisfies the prescribed conditions on a part of the boundary is advantageous for boundary integral calculations. In this paper, it is shown that an approximate Green's function, one in which the known data is nearly reproduced, can also be highly beneficial in implementations of the boundary-element method. This approximate Green's function approach is developed herein for solving the Laplace equation, and applied to the modeling of void dynamics under electromigration conditions in metallic thin-film interconnects used in integrated circuits.     

A numerical Green's function and dual reciprocity BEM method to solve elastodynamic crack problems

A computational model based on the numerical Green's function (NGF) and the dual reciprocity boundary element method (DR-BEM) is presented for the study of elastodynamic fracture mechanics problems. The numerical Green's function, corresponding to an embedded crack within the infinite medium, is introduced into a boundary element formulation, as the fundamental solution, to calculate the unknown external boundary displacements and tractions and in post-processing determine the crack opening displacements (COD). The domain inertial integral present in the elastodynamic equation is transformed into a boundary integral one by the use of the dual reciprocity technique. The dynamic stress intensity factors (SIF), computed through crack opening displacement values, are obtained for several numerical examples, indicating a good agreement with existing solutions.     

Green's matrices for the 2-D Lame system in regions of irregular shape

A method is proposed for the construction of Green's matrices for mixed boundary value problems in regions of irregular shape for the displacement formulation of the plane problem in theory of elasticity. The method is based on the boundary integral equation approach where a kernel matrix B satisfies the 2-D homogeneous Lame system inside the region. This leads to a regular boundary integral equation where the compensating load is applied to the boundary. The Green's matrix is consequently expressed in terms of the kernel matrix B, the fundamental solution matrix of the homogeneous Lame system and a kernel matrix of the inverse regular integral operator. To calculate the stress components, the kernel matrices are differentiated under the integral sign. The proposed method appears highly effective in computing both displacements and stresses.     

On the method of functional equations and the performance of desingularized boundary element methods

A correspondence is made between the reciprocal relation for linear elliptic partial differential equations and the Riesz integral representation. The former relates the boundary distributions and appropriate normal fluxes of two arbitrary solutions, and the latter expresses a continuous linear functional in terms of an integral involving a representing function. When sufficient regularity conditions are met, the representing function is identified with the unknown boundary distribution. In principle, the representing function may be expressed in terms of the images of a complete set of orthonormal basis functions with known normal fluxes, as suggested by Kupradze [Kupradze VD. On the approximate solution of problems in mathematical physics. Russ Math Surv 1967; 22: 59–107]; in practice, the representing function is computed by solving integral equations using boundary element methods. The basic procedure involves expressing the representing function in terms of finite-element or other basis functions, and requiring the satisfaction of the reciprocal relationship with a suitable set of test functions such as Green's functions and their dipoles. When the singular points are placed at the boundary, we obtain the standard boundary integral equation method. When the singular points are placed outside the domain of solution, we obtain a system of functional equations and associated class of desingularized boundary integral methods. When sufficient regularity conditions are met and the test functions comprise a complete set, then in the limit of infinite discretization the numerical solution converges to the unknown boundary distribution. An overview of formulations is presented with reference to Laplace's equation in two dimensions. Numerical experimentation shows that, in general, the solution obtained by desingularized methods becomes increasingly less accurate as the singular points of Green's functions move farther away from the boundary, but the loss of accuracy is significant only when the exact solution shows pronounced variations. Exceptions occur when the integral equation does not have a unique solution. In contrast, and in agreement with previous findings, the condition number of the linear system increases rapidly with the distance of the singular points from the boundary, to the extent that a dependable solution cannot be obtained when the singularities are located even a moderate distance away from the boundary. The desingularized formulation based on Green's function dipoles is superior in accuracy and reliability to the one that uses Green functions. The implementation of the method to the equations of elastostatics and Stokes flow are also discussed.     

A meshless BEM for isotropic heat conduction problems with heat generation and spatially varying conductivity

In this paper, a new and simple boundary‐domain integral equation is presented for heat conduction problems with heat generation and non‐homogeneous thermal conductivity. Since a normalized temperature is introduced to formulate the integral equation, temperature gradients are not involved in the domain integrals. The Green's function for the Laplace equation is used and, therefore, the derived integral equation has a unified form for different heat generations and thermal conductivities. The arising domain integrals are converted into equivalent boundary integrals using the radial integration method (RIM) by expressing the normalized temperature using a series of basis functions and polynomials in global co‐ordinates. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the robustness of the presented method. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local discretization error bounds using interval boundary element method

In this paper, a method to account for the point‐wise discretization error in the solution for boundary element method is developed. Interval methods are used to enclose the boundary integral equation and a sharp parametric solver for the interval linear system of equations is presented. The developed method does not assume any special properties besides the Laplace equation being a linear elliptic partial differential equation whose Green's function for an isotropic media is known. Numerical results are presented showing the guarantee of the bounds on the solution as well as the convergence of the discretization error. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of Green's function derivatives for exponentially graded elasticity

Effective formulas for computing Green's function of an exponentially graded three‐dimensional material have been derived in previous work. The expansion approach for evaluating Green's function has been extended to develop corresponding algorithms for its first‐ and second‐order derivatives. The resulting formulas are again obtained as a relatively simple analytic term plus a single double integral, the integrand involving only elementary functions. A primary benefit of the expansion procedure is the ability to compute the second‐order derivatives needed for fracture analysis. Moreover, as all singular terms in this hypersingular kernel are contained in the analytic expression, these expressions are readily implemented in a boundary integral equation calculation. The computational formulas for the first derivative are tested by comparing with results of finite difference approximations involving Green's function. In turn, the second derivatives are then validated by comparing with finite difference quotients using the first derivatives. Published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The boundary element-linear complementarity method for the Signorini problem

The boundary element-linear complementarity method for solving the Laplacian Signorini problem is presented in this paper. Both Green's formula and the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation have been used to solve the boundary integral equation. By imposing the Signorini constraints of the potential and its normal derivative on the boundary, the discrete integral equation can be written into a standard linear complementarity problem (LCP). In the LCP, the unique variable to be affected by the Signorini boundary constraints is the boundary potential variable. A projected successive over-relaxation (PSOR) iterative method is employed to solve the LCP, and some numerical results are presented to illustrate the efficiency of this method.     

An algorithm based on the boundary element method for problems in engineering mechanics

The solution to a two-dimensional problem using the boundary element method requires the evaluation of a line integral over the boundary. The integrand ot this line integral is a product of a known Green's function and an unknown function. A large number of Green's functions for two-dimensional problems can be represented by a linear combination of four singular functions. By approximating the unknown function by a linear combination of known polynomials, integrals are generated whose integrand is a product of the polynomiais and one of the four singular functions. To evaluate these integrals analytically, the boundary is approximated by a sum of straight-line segments. Recursive formulae are established which reduce the generality and the complexity of the integrands to simple expressions. Analytical forms for these simple expressions are found and are used for initiating the algorithm.     

3-D and 2-D Dynamic Green's functions and time-domain BIEs for piezoelectric solids

Dynamic Green's functions for linear piezoelectric solids are derived by using Radon transform. Time-harmonic and Laplace transformed dynamic Green's functions are obtained subsequently by applying the Fourier and the Laplace transform to the time-domain Green's functions. Time-domain boundary integral equation formulations are presented for transient dynamic analysis of linear piezoelectric solids. In particular, hypersingular and non-hypersingular time-domain traction BIEs are derived by two different ways. Their potential application in transient dynamic crack analysis of three-dimensional and two-dimensional piezoelectric solids is discussed.     

Boundary element modeling of cracks in piezoelectric solids

This study focuses on the application of boundary element methods for linear fracture mechanics of two-dimensional piezoelectric solids. A complete set of piezoelectric Green's functions, based on the extended Lekhnitskii's formalism and distributed dislocation modeling, are presented. Special Green's functions are obtained for an infinite medium containing a conducting crack or an impermeable crack. The numerical solution of the boundary integral equation and the computation of fracture parameters are discussed. The concept of crack closure integral is utilized to calculate energy release rates. Accuracy of the boundary element solutions is confirmed by comparing with analytical solutions reported in the literature. The present scheme can be applied to study complex cracks such as branched cracks, forked cracks and microcrack clusters.     

A numerical Green's function BEM formulation for crack growth simulation

This paper presents a crack growth prediction analysis based on the numerical Green's function (NGF) procedure and on the minimum strain energy density criterion for crack extension, also known as S-criterion. In the NGF procedure, the hypersingular boundary integral equation is used to numerically obtain the Green's function which automatically includes the crack into the fundamental infinite medium. When solving a linear elastic fracture mechanisms (LEFM) problem, once the NGF is obtained, the classical boundary element method can be used to determine the external boundary unknowns and, consequently, the stress intensity factors needed to predict the direction and increment of crack growth. With the change in crack geometry, another numerical analysis is carried out without need to rebuilding the entire element discretization, since only the crack built in the NGF needs update. Numerical examples, contemplating crack extensions for two-dimensional LEFM problems, are presented to illustrate the procedure.     

Extended displacement discontinuity Green's functions for three-dimensional transversely isotropic magneto-electro-elastic media and applications

A versatile method is presented to derive the extended displacement discontinuity Green's functions or fundamental solutions by using the integral equation method and the Green's functions of the extended point forces. In particular, the three-dimensional (3D) transversely isotropic magneto-electro-elastic problem is used to demonstrate the method. On this condition, the extended displacement discontinuities include the elastic displacement discontinuities, the electric potential discontinuity and the magnetic potential discontinuity, while the extended forces include the point forces, the point electric charge and the point electric current. Based on the obtained Green's functions, the extended Crouch fundamental solutions are derived and an extended displacement discontinuity method is developed for analysis of cracks in 3D magneto-electro-elastic media. The extended intensity factors of two coplanar and parallel rectangular cracks are calculated under impermeable boundary condition to illustrate the application, accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method.     

Spectral-domain analysis of multilayer cylindrical–rectangular microstrip antennas

In this paper, the resonance and radiation characteristics of multilayered cylindrical–rectangular microstrip antennas are analysed. The problem is formulated, in the spectral-domain, using an electric field integral equation and the spectral-domain Green's function. An efficient compact method is developed to obtain the Green's function of the electric field due to the current distribution of a patch located in an arbitrary layer of a cylindrical stratified medium. To accomplish this, efficient matrix representations are used to describe the electric and magnetic fields in each layer of the geometry in terms of ABCD matrices characteristic of its material properties. The boundary integral equation for the unknown patch current is solved numerically by applying the boundary element method using three kinds of basis functions. Taking into account the symmetry properties of the elements of the moment method matrix, the CPU time is reduced significantly. The convergence of the method is proven by performing the resonant frequencies for a single layer cylindrical–rectangular microstrip patch vs. the substrate thickness. The computed data are found to be in very good agreement with those found in the literature, using only two basis functions. Once the validity of the method is checked, further results for various antennas structures are presented proving the generality of the method. Finally, the effect of an air gap between the substrate layer and the ground conducting cylinder on far zone radiation field is investigated using the steepest-descent method.     

Non‐singular boundary integral formulations for plane interior potential problems

In this article, a non‐singular formulation of the boundary integral equation is developed to solve smooth and non‐smooth interior potential problems in two dimensions. The subtracting and adding‐back technique is used to regularize the singularity of Green's function and to simplify the calculation of the normal derivative of Green's function. After that, a global numerical integration is directly applied at the boundary, and those integration points are also taken as collocation points to simplify the algorithm of computation. The result indicates that this simple method gives the convergence speed of order N ^?3 in the smooth boundary cases for both Dirichlet and mix‐type problems. For the non‐smooth cases, the convergence speed drops at O(N ^?1/2) for the Dirichlet problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radial integration BEM for transient heat conduction problems

In this paper, a new boundary element analysis approach is presented for solving transient heat conduction problems based on the radial integration method. The normalized temperature is introduced to formulate integral equations, which makes the representation very simple and having no temperature gradients involved. The Green's function for the Laplace equation is adopted in deriving basic integral equations for time-dependent problems with varying heat conductivities and, as a result, domain integrals are involved in the derived integral equations. The radial integration method is employed to convert the domain integrals into equivalent boundary integrals. Based on the central finite difference technique, an implicit time marching solution scheme is developed for solving the time-dependent system of equations. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the correctness of the presented approach.     

Heritage and early history of the boundary element method

This article explores the rich heritage of the boundary element method (BEM) by examining its mathematical foundation from the potential theory, boundary value problems, Green's functions, Green's identities, to Fredholm integral equations. The 18th to 20th century mathematicians, whose contributions were key to the theoretical development, are honored with short biographies. The origin of the numerical implementation of boundary integral equations can be traced to the 1960s, when the electronic computers had become available. The full emergence of the numerical technique known as the boundary element method occurred in the late 1970s. This article reviews the early history of the boundary element method up to the late 1970s.     

A numerical green's function approach for boundary elements applied to fracture mechanics

The most accurate boundary element formulation to deal with fracture mechanics problems is obtained with the implementation of the associated Green's function acting as the fundamental solution. Consequently, the range of applications of this formulation is dependent on the availability of the appropriate Green's function for actual crack geometry. Analytical Green's functions have been presented for a few single crack configurations in 2-D applications and require complex variable theory. This work extends the applicability of the formulation through the introduction of efficient numerical means of computing the Green's function components for single or multiple crack problems, of general geometry, including the implementation to 3-D problems as a future development. Also, the approach uses real variables only and well-established boundary integral equations.     

A simplified integral equation method for the calculation of the eigenvalues of Helmholtz equation

An integral equation method is presented for the numerical calculation of the eigenvalues of the scalar Helmholtz equation. By using a particular solution instead of Green's function, the calculations could be simplified due to the elimination of complex numbers.     

A boundary integral approach for plane analysis of electrically semi-permeable planar cracks in a piezoelectric solid

A plane electro-elastostatic problem involving arbitrarily located planar stress free cracks which are electrically semi-permeable is considered. Through the use of the numerical Green's function for impermeable cracks, the problem is formulated in terms of boundary integral equations which are solved numerically by a boundary element procedure together with a predictor–corrector method. The crack tip stress and electric displacement intensity factors can be easily computed once the boundary integral equations are properly solved.