A hybrid boundary element method for three-dimensional fracture analysis

At first, a hybrid boundary element method used for three-dimensional linear elastic fracture analysis is established by introducing the relative displacement fundamental function into the first and the second kind of boundary integral equations. Then the numerical approaches are presented in detail. Finally, several numerical examples are given out to check the proposed method. The numerical results show that the hybrid boundary element method has a very high accuracy for analysis of a three-dimensional stress intensity factor.     

Numerical stability in regular BEM schemes for elastostatic problems

The regular boundary element method is employed for the static analysis of boundary value problems of elasticity. This method allows one to reduce a given boundary value problem to a system of regular integral equations of the first kind with respect to source functions not located on the boundary. This paper is concerned with the numerical stability analysis of regular boundary element methods. In particular, the existence and stability of approximate solutions for integral equations of the first kind with continuous kernels are discussed. The special regularization technique for treating such a class of integral equations is developed. Numerical examples illustrate proposed algorithms and demonstrate their advantages.     

The mixed-type integral equations for transient elastodynamic plane crack problems

In the present paper, by use of the boundary integral equation method and the techniques of Green fundamental solution and singularity analysis, the dynamic infinite plane crack problem is investigated. For the first time, the problem is reduced to solving a system of mixed-typed integral equations in Laplace transform domain. The equations consist of ordinary boundary integral equations along the outer boundary and Cauchy singular integral equations along the crack line. The equations obtained are strictly proved to be equivalent with the dual integral equations obtained by Sih in the special case of dynamic Griffith crack problem. The mixed-type integral equations can be solved by combining the numerical method of singular integral equation with the ordinary boundary element method. Further use the numerical method for Laplace transform, several typical examples are calculated and their dynamic stress intensity factors are obtained. The results show that the method proposed is successful and can be used to solve more complicated problems.     

A 2D time-domain BEM for transient wave scattering analysis by a crack in anisotropic solids

A two-dimensional (2D) time-domain boundary element method (BEM) is presented in this paper for transient analysis of elastic wave scattering by a crack in homogeneous, anisotropic and linearly elastic solids. A traction boundary integral equation formulation is applied to solve the arising initial-boundary value problem. A numerical solution procedure is developed to solve the time-domain boundary integral equations. A collocation method is used for the temporal discretization, while a Galerkin-method is adopted for the spatial discretization of the boundary integral equations. Since the hypersingular boundary integral equations are first regularized to weakly singular ones, no special integration technique is needed in the present method. Special attention of the analysis is devoted to the computation of the scattered wave fields. Numerical examples are given to show the accuracy and the reliability of the present time-domain BEM. The effects of the material anisotropy on the transient wave scattering characteristics are investigated.     

Boundary element analysis of dynamic coupled thermoelasticity problems

Some possibility of numerical analysis of coupled dynamic problems of linear elastic heat conductors on classical thermoelasticity theory by using the boundary element method is shown in this paper. The boundary integral equation formulation and its numerical implementation of the two-dimensional problem are developed in the manner by the newly derived fundamental solution for the coupled equations of elliptic type in the transformed space and the numerical inversion of Laplace transformation. The boundary element unsteady solutions of the first and second Danilovskaya problems and the Sternberg and Chakravorty problem in the half-space are demonstrated through comparison with the existing solutions.     

Explicit evaluation of hypersingular boundary integral equations for acoustic sensitivity analysis based on direct differentiation method

This paper presents a new set of boundary integral equations for three dimensional acoustic shape sensitivity analysis based on the direct differentiation method. A linear combination of the derived equations is used to avoid the fictitious eigenfrequency problem associated with the conventional boundary integral equation method when solving exterior acoustic problems. The strongly singular and hypersingular boundary integrals contained in the equations are evaluated as the Cauchy principal values and Hadamard finite parts for constant element discretization without using any regularization technique in this study. The present boundary integral equations are more efficient to use than the usual ones based on any other singularity subtraction technique and can be applied to the fast multipole boundary element method more readily and efficiently. The effectiveness and accuracy of the present equations are demonstrated through some numerical examples.     

Elastoplastic crack analysis by boundary integral method and surface spectrum measurement

The paper describes a hybrid experimental-numerical technique for elastoplastic crack analysis. It consists of the experimental surface spectrum measurement of plastic strains ahead the crack tip and the boundary element method (BEM). The light scattering method is used to measure the power density spectrum from which the values of plastic strains are obtained by comparison with a calibration experiment on the same material. Plastic strains obtained experimentally are conveniently used for the calculation of unknown boundary displacement or traction vectors by the boundary element method. Instead of an iterative solution of the boundary integral equations in pure numerical solution, the boundary unknowns are computed once for a required loading level. Also asymptotic distribution of strains or stresses is not needed in the evaluation of the domain integral for the BEM formulation in the vicinity of the crack tip. Significant CPU time saving is achieved in comparison with the pure BEM solution. The method presented is illustrated by the example for a three point bending specimen with an edge crack.     

边界元法在环境声学中的应用

边界元法是边界积分方程的数值解法 ,是随着计算机技术的发展而出现的。建立声学边界积分方程分两种方法 :直接法与间接法。本文介绍了边界元法在环境声学中的应用 ,如声屏障和不同情况下道路周围的声场分布、复杂气象条件对声传播的影响的问题等。由于边界元法是半解析半数值解法。在解边界积分方程时会遇到解的存在与唯一性问题。     

下限问题中基于四边形单元平衡方程的边界积分法

相对于三角形单元的下限分析,基于四边形单元的下限分析具有更高的精度和求解效率。该文利用格林公式把平衡方程的弱形式化为边界积分,从而得到简洁的线性方程,取代了以往的数值积分方案,克服了高斯积分中坐标变换等复杂的求解过程。此外还对应力连续性方程进行了简化。该积分方案不仅大大简化了计算,而且更易于编程实现。算例表明该文方法具有较高的精度。     

A boundary element method for two dimensional linear elastic fracture analysis

A boundary element method is developed for the analysis of fractures in two-dimensional solids. The solids are assumed to be linearly elastic and isotropic, and both bounded and unbounded domains are treated. The development of the boundary integral equations exploits (as usual) Somigliana's identity, but a special manipulation is carried out to regularize certain integrals associated with the crack line. The resulting integral equations consist of the conventional ordinary boundary terms and two additional terms which can be identified as a distribution of concentrated forces and a distribution of dislocations along each crack line. The strategy for establishing the integral equations is first outlined in terms of real variables, after which complex variable techniques are adopted for the detailed development. In the numerical implementation of the formulation, the ordinary boundary integrals are treated with standard boundary element techniques, while a novel numerical procedure is developed to treat the crack line integrals. The resulting numerical procedure is used to solve several sample problems for both embedded and surface-breaking cracks, and it is shown that the technique is both accurate and efficient. The utility of the method for simulating curvilinear crack propagation is also demonstrated.     

The generalized boundary element approach to Burgers' equation

The generalized boundary element method is presented for the numerical solution of Burgers' equation. The new method is based on the set of boundary integral equations derived for each subdomain by using the fundamental solution for the linearized differential operator of the equation. The resulting system of quasi-non-linear equations is solved implicitly with use of a simple iterative procedure. The adaptability and the accuracy of the proposed method are demonstrated by three examples and a comparison of the numerical results with the exact solution or other existing solutions is shown for the first example.     

A boundary element method for solving 3D static gradient elastic problems with surface energy

 A boundary element methodology is developed for the static analysis of three-dimensional bodies exhibiting a linear elastic material behavior coupled with microstructural effects. These microstructural effects are taken into account with the aid of a simple strain gradient elastic theory with surface energy. A variational statement is established to determine all possible classical and non-classical (due to gradient with surface energy terms) boundary conditions of the general boundary value problem. The gradient elastic fundamental solution with surface energy is explicitly derived and used to construct the boundary integral equations of the problem with the aid of the reciprocal theorem valid for the case of gradient elasticity with surface energy. It turns out that for a well posed boundary value problem, in addition to a boundary integral representation for the displacement, a second boundary integral representation for its normal derivative is also necessary. All the kernels in the integral equations are explicitly provided. The numerical implementation and solution procedure are provided. Surface quadratic quadrilateral boundary elements are employed and the discretization is restricted only to the boundary. Advanced algorithms are presented for the accurate and efficient numerical computation of the singular integrals involved. Two numerical examples are presented to illustrate the method and demonstrate its merits. Received: 9 November 2001 / Accepted: 20 June 2002 The first and third authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Karatheodory program for basic research offered by the University of Patras.     

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 symmetric boundary element model for the analysis of Kirchhoff plates

The paper deals with the formulation and implementation of a new symmetric boundary element model for the analysis of Kirchhoff plates. The transversal displacement and normal slope boundary integral equations, usually adopted in the standard boundary element analysis, are considered together with bending moment, twisting moment and equivalent shear boundary integral equations. These equations are weighted by considering distributed sources related to the kinematic and static variables in the virtual-work sense. Moreover, particular attention is paid to the discretization of the boundary variables by shape functions selected in order to ensure continuity over the boundary and symmetry for the matrix system. The evaluation of the highly singular boundary integrals for overlapped integration domains is performed in closed form using a limit approach which provides self-contributions as limit values of non-singular terms. The corner effects and their treatment in the numerical procedure are also discussed. Various numerical examples for plates having different boundary conditions illustrate the performance of the model.     

The boundary element method applied to the analysis of two-dimensional nonlinear sloshing problems

This paper deals with an application of the boundary element method to the analysis of nonlinear sloshing problems, namely nonlinear oscillations of a liquid in a container subjected to forced oscillations. First, the problem is formulated mathematically as a nonlinear initial-boundary value problem by the use of a governing differential equation and boundary conditions, assuming the fluid to be inviscid and incompressible and the flow to be irrotational. Next, the governing equation (Laplace equation) and boundary conditions, except the dynamic boundary condition on the free surface, are transformed into an integral equation by employing the Galerkin method. Two dynamic boundary condition is reduced to a weighted residual equation by employing the Galerkin method. Two equations thus obtained are discretized by the use of the finite element method spacewise and the finite difference method timewise. Collocation method is employed for the discretization of the integral equation. Due to the nonlinearity of the problem, the incremental method is used for the numerical analysis. Numerical results obtained by the present boundary element method are compared with those obtained by the conventional finite element method and also with existing analytical solutions of the nonlinear theory. Good agreements are obtained, and this indicates the availability of the boundary element method as a numerical technique for nonlinear free surface fluid problems.     

The boundary element modelling of the human body exposed to the ELF electromagnetic fields

In this paper a cylindrical model of human body exposed to the extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic field is presented. The analysis is based on the solution of the simplified integral equation for thick wires. The numerical solution of the integral equations is performed by the Galerkin–Bubnov variant of the boundary element method. Several numerical results for the ELF exposures are presented.     

A wideband fast multipole boundary element method for three dimensional acoustic shape sensitivity analysis based on direct differentiation method

This paper presents a wideband fast multipole boundary element approach for three dimensional acoustic shape sensitivity analysis. The Burton-Miller method is adopted to tackle the fictitious eigenfrequency problem associated with the conventional boundary integral equation method in solving exterior acoustic wave problems. The sensitivity boundary integral equations are obtained by the direct differentiation method, and the concept of material derivative is used in the derivation. The iterative solver generalized minimal residual method (GMRES) and the wideband fast multipole method are employed to improve the overall computational efficiency. Several numerical examples are given to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present method.     

分析不同材料界面应力奇异性的一维杂交有限元方法

该文提出了一种计算效率较高的分析不同材料界面应力奇异性的一维杂交有限元方法。为了推导该方法,首先列出了用于求解不同材料界面裂纹奇异应力场特征解的基本方程和边界条件,然后利用加权残量方法(weighted residual method),得到上述基本方程和边界条件的弱形式,该弱形式的基本变量为位移和应力。运用Galerkin有限元方法的思想及上述弱形式,最后得到了一个一维杂交有限元方法,该一维杂交有限元方法只需对扇形区域在角度方向上离散,其总体方程为一个二次特征矩阵方程。数值算例表明:该方法可以准确而高效地计算不同材料界面奇异应力场的特征解。     

Numerical integration in 3D Galerkin BEM solution of HBIEs

 We consider hypersingular boundary integral equations associated with 3D problems defined on polygonal domains, whose solutions are approximated with a Galerkin boundary element method, related to a given triangulation of the boundary. At first, for linear shape functions, the most frequently used basis functions, we give explicit results of the analytical inner integrations. Then, after an analysis of the singularities arising in the whole integration process, we propose suitable quadrature schemes to evaluate integrals required to form the Galerkin matrix elements. Several numerical results are presented. Received 6 November 2000     

An efficient method to evaluate hypersingular and supersingular integrals in boundary integral equations analysis

An efficient algorithm is employed to evaluated hyper and super singular integral equations encountered in boundary integral equations analysis of engineering problems. The algorithm is based on multiple subtractions and additions to separate singular and regular integral terms in the polar transformation domain, primarily established in Refs. (Guiggiani M, Krishnasamy G, Rudolphi TJ, Rizzo FJ. A general algorithm for the numerical solution of hypersingular boundary integral equations. Trans ASME 1992;59:604–614; Guiggiani M, Casalini P. Direct computation of Cauchy principal value integral in advanced boundary element. Int J Numer Meth Engng 1987;24:1711–1720. Guiggiani M, Gigante A. A general algorithm for multidimensional Cauchy principal value integrals in the boundary element method. J Appl Mech Trans ASME 1990;57:906–915). It can be proved that the regular terms have finite analytical solutions in the range of integration, and the singular terms will be replaced by special periodic kernels in the integral equations. The subtractions involve to multiple derivatives of analytical kernels and the additions require some manipulation to separate the remaining regular terms from singular ones. The regular terms are computed numerically. Three examples on numerical evaluation of singular boundary integrals are presented to show the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm. In this respect, strongly singular and hypersingular integrals of potential flow problems are considered, followed by a supersingular integral which is extracted from the partial differentiation of a hypersingular integral with respect to the source point.