A Galerkin boundary contour method for two-dimensional linear elasticity

The Boundary Contour Method (BCM) is a recent variant of the Boundary Element Method (BEM) resting on the use of boundary approximations which a-priori satisfy the field equations. For two-dimensional problems, the evaluation of all the line-integrals involved in the collocation BCM reduces to function evaluations at the end-points of each element, thus completely avoiding numerical integrations. With reference to 2-D linear elasticity, this paper develops a variational version of BCM by transferring to the BCM context the ingredients which characterize the Galerkin-Symmetric BEM (GSBEM). The method proposed herein requires no numerical integrations: all the needed double line-integrals over boundary elements pairs can be evaluated by generating appropriate “potential functions” (in closed form) and computing their values at the element end-points. This holds for straight as well as curved elements; however the coefficient matrix of the equation system in the boundary unknowns turns out to be fully symmetric only when all the elements are straight. The numerical results obtained for some benchmark problems, for which analytical solutions are available, validate the proposed formulation and the corresponding solution procedure.     

The boundary contour method for two-dimensional linear elasticity with quadratic boundary elements

This paper presents a further development of the Boundary Contour Method (BCM) for two-dimensional linear elasticity. The new developments are: (a) explicit use of the rigid body motion solution to regularize the BCM and avoid computation of the corner tensor, (b) quadratic boundary elements compared to linear elements in previous work and (c) evaluation of stresses both inside and on the boundary of a body. This method allows boundary stress computations at regular points (i.e. at points where the boundary is locally smooth) inside boundary elements without the need of any special algorithms for the numerical evaluation of hypersingular integrals. Numerical solutions for illustrative examples are compared with analytical ones. The numerical results are uniformly accurate.     

The traction boundary contour method for linear elasticity

This paper presents a further development of the boundary contour method. The boundary contour method is extended to cover the traction boundary integral equation. A traction boundary contour method is proposed for linear elastostatics. The formulation of traction boundary contour method is regular for points except the ends of the boundary element and corners. The present approach only requires line integrals for three‐dimensional problems and function evaluations at the ends of boundary elements for two‐dimensional cases. The implementation of the traction boundary contour method with quadratic boundary elements is presented for two‐dimensional problems. Numerical results are given for some two‐dimensional examples, and these are compared with analytical solutions. This method is shown to give excellent results for illustrative examples. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A superelement for two-dimensional singular boundary value problems in linear elasticity

The finite element method for elliptic boundary value problems has been modified to deal with boundary singularities. We introduce a singular-super-element (SSE) which incorporates the known expansion for the singular solution explicitly over the internal region surrounding the singular point, whilst using blended trial functions over the intermediate region, which joins the internal and external regions smoothly. The SSE conforms with the mesh used in the external region, and may be easily incorporated into standard finite element programs. The calculations yield the expansion coefficients directly, as well as an accurate representation of the displacements in the vicinity of the singular point, for a crack or V-notch of any angle subject to any mode of loading. The SSE has been applied to determine stress intensity factors for two-dimensional crack and V-notch problems, including mixed mode. The computations converge rapidly, yielding results of high accuracy.     

The boundary contour method for two-dimensional Stokes flow and incompressible elastic materials

 A variant of the boundary element method, called the boundary contour method (BCM), offers a further reduction in dimensionality. Consequently, boundary contour analysis of two-dimensional (2-D) problems does not require any numerical integration at all. While the method has enjoyed many successful applications in linear elasticity, the above advantage has not been exploited for Stokes flow problems and incompressible media. In order to extend the BCM to these materials, this paper presents a development of the method based on the equations of Stokes flow and its 2-D kernel tensors. Potential functions are derived for quadratic boundary elements. Numerical solutions for some well-known examples are compared with the analytical ones to validate the development. Received 28 August 2001 / Accepted 15 January 2002     

B-spline approximation in boundary face method for three-dimensional linear elasticity

In this paper, basis functions generated from B-spline or Non-Uniform Rational B-spline (NURBS), are used for approximating the boundary variables to solve the 3D linear elasticity Boundary Integral Equations (BIEs). The implementation is based on the BFM framework in which both boundary integration and variable approximation are performed in the parametric spaces of the boundary surfaces to keep the exact geometric information in the BIEs. In order to reduce the influence of tensor product of B-spline and make the discretization of a body surface easier, the basis functions defined in global intervals are translated into local form. B-spline fitting function built with the local basis functions is converted into an interpolation type of function in which the nodal values of the boundary variables are used for control points. Numerical tests for 3D linear elasticity problems show that the BFM with B-spline basis functions outperforms that with the well-known Moving Least Square (MLS) approximation.     

A pure boundary element method approach for solving hypersingular boundary integral equations

This paper is concerned with discretization and numerical solution of a regularized version of the hypersingular boundary integral equation (HBIE) for the two-dimensional Laplace equation. This HBIE contains the primary unknown, as well as its gradient, on the boundary of a body. Traditionally, this equation has been solved by combining the boundary element method (BEM) together with tangential differentiation of the interpolated primary variable on the boundary. The present paper avoids this tangential differentiation. Instead, a “pure” BEM method is proposed for solving this class of problems. Dirichlet, Neumann and mixed problems are addressed in this paper, and some numerical examples are included in it.     

A new boundary element method formulation for three dimensional problems in linear elasticity

Summary A new boundary element method (BEM) formulation for planar problems of linear elasticity has been proposed recently [6]. This formulation uses a kernel which has a weaker singularity relative to the corresponding kernel in the standard formulation. The most important advantage of the new formulation, relative to the standard one, is that it delivers stresses accurately at internal points that are extremely close to the boundary of a body. A corresponding BEM formulation for three dimensional problems of linear elasticity is presented in this paper. This formulation is derived through the use of Stokes' theorem and has kernels which are only 1/r singular (wherer is the distance between a source and a field point) for the displacement equation. The standard BEM formulation for three-dimensional elasticity problems has a kernel which is 1/r ² singular.With 2 Figures     

The multi-domain hybrid boundary node method for 3D elasticity

In this paper, a multi-domain technique for 3D elasticity problems is derived from the hybrid boundary node method (Hybrid BNM). The Hybrid BNM is based on the modified variational principle and the Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation. It does not require a boundary element mesh, neither for the purpose of interpolation of the solution variables nor for the integration of energy. This method can reduce the human-labor costs of meshing, especially for complex construction. This paper presents a further development of the Hybrid BNM for multi-domain analysis in 3D elasticity. Using the equilibrium and continuity conditions on the interfaces, the final algebraic equation is obtained by assembling the algebraic equation for each single sub-domain. The proposed multi-domain technique is capable to deal with interface and multi-medium problems and results in a block sparsity of the coefficient matrix. Numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed multi-domain technique.     

On the evaluation of hyper-singular integrals arising in the boundary element method for linear elasticity

The boundary element method (BEM) for linear elasticity in its curent usage is based on the boundary integral equation for displacements. The stress field in the interior of the body is computed by differentiating the displacement field at the source point in the BEM formulation, via the strain field. However, at the boundary, this method gives rise to a hypersingular integral relation which becomes numerically intractable. A novel approach is presented here, where hyper-singular kernels for stresses on the boundary are made numerically tractable through the imposition of certain equilibrated displacement modes. Numerical results are also presented for benchmark problems, to illustrate the efficacy of the present approach. Solutions are compared to the commonly used boundary stress algorithm wherein the boundary stresses are computed from known boundary tractions, and derivatives of known displacements tangential to the boundary. An extension of this approach to solve linear elasticity problems using the traction boundary integral equation (TBIE) is also discussed.     

Analytical regularization of hypersingular integral for Helmholtz equation in boundary element method

This paper presents a gradient field representation using an analytical regularization of a hypersingular boundary integral equation for a two-dimensional time harmonic wave equation called the Helmholtz equation. The regularization is based on cancelation of the hypersingularity by considering properties of hypersingular elements that are adjacent to a singular node. Advantages to this regularization include applicability to evaluate corner nodes, no limitation for element size, and reduced computational cost compared to other methods. To demonstrate capability and accuracy, regularization is estimated for a problem about plane wave propagation. As a result, it is found that even at a corner node the most significant error in the proposed method is due to truncation error of non-singular elements in discretization, and error from hypersingular elements is negligibly small.     

A non-hypersingular boundary integral formulation for displacement gradients in linear elasticity

Summary Based on boundary displacement and traction, a non-hypersingular boundary integral formulation is developed for the displacement gradient. At an arbitrary boundary point where the displacement field at least satisfies a Hölder condition (u _kC ^1, with >0), the displacement gradient can be calculated by the Cauchy Principal Value (CPV) integration. The hypersingularity involved in conventional formulation is circumvented by applying rigid body translation. The numerical implementation of the present formulation is illustrated, and both direct and indirect approaches are discussed. For two-dimensional problems, the coefficients involved in the direct approach are analytically derived. The stress formulation is also discussed. Finally, numerical examples are presented to validate the present formulation.     

A fast spectral Galerkin method for hypersingular boundary integral equations in potential theory

This research is focused on the development of a fast spectral method to accelerate the solution of three-dimensional hypersingular boundary integral equations of potential theory. Based on a Galerkin approximation, the fast Fourier transform and local interpolation operators, the proposed method is a generalization of the precorrected-FFT technique to deal with double-layer potential kernels, hypersingular kernels and higher-order basis functions. Numerical examples utilizing piecewise linear shape functions are included to illustrate the performance of the method. The US Government retains a nonexclusive royalty-free license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes.     

A boundary element method solution for anisotropic nonhomogeneous elasticity

A new BEM approach is presented for the plane elastostatic problem for nonhomogeneous anisotropic bodies. In this case the response of the body is described by two coupled linear second order partial differential equations in terms of displacement with variable coefficient. The incapability of establishing the fundamental solution of the governing equations is overcome by uncoupling them using the concept of analog equation, which converts them to two Poisson’s equations, whose fundamental solution is known and the necessary boundary integral equations are readily obtained. This formulation introduces two additional unknown field functions, which physically represent the two components of a fictitious source. Subsequently, they are determined by approximating them globally with radial basis functions series. The displacements and the stresses are evaluated from the integral representation of the solution of the substitutes equations. The presented method maintains the pure boundary character of the BEM. The obtained numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the method.     

A Hermite interpolation algorithm for hypersingular boundary integrals

This paper presents a conforming C¹ boundary integral algorithm based on Hermite interpolation. This work is motivated by the requirement that the surface function multiplying a hypersingular kernel be differentiable at the collocation nodes. The unknown surface derivatives utilized by the Hermite approximation are determined, consistent with other boundary values, by writing a tangential hypersingular equation. Hypersingular equations are primarily invoked for solving crack problems, and the focus herein is on developing a suitable approximation for this geometry. Test calculations for the Laplace equation in two dimensions indicate that the algorithm is a promising technique for three-dimensional problems.     

A viscous boundary condition with memory in linear elasticity

We study the asymptotic behavior of a linear elastic medium with the following boundary condition with memory:

     

An efficient method for the two-dimensional elastostatic boundary element method

In order to obtain accurate results and to reduce computation time, we have proposed in this paper a new strategic method, where quadratic elements are used at the corner points and linear elements at the points off the corner points. A computer program using this method has been developed and applied to several problems of various shapes. The usefulness of this method was illustrated by the application results.     

The local boundary integral equation (LBIE) and it's meshless implementation for linear elasticity

 The meshless method based on the local boundary integral equation (LBIE) is a promising method for solving boundary value problems, using an local unsymmetric weak form and shape functions from the moving least squares approximation. In the present paper, the meshless method based on the LBIE for solving problems in linear elasticity is developed and numerically implemented. The present method is a truly meshless method, as it does not need a “finite element mesh”, either for purposes of interpolation of the solution variables, or for the integration of the energy. All integrals in the formulation can be easily evaluated over regularly shaped domains (in general, spheres in three-dimensional problems) and their boundaries. The essential boundary conditions in the present formulation can be easily imposed even when the non-interpolative moving least squares approximation is used. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the implementation and performance of the present method. The numerical examples show that high rates of convergence with mesh refinement for the displacement and energy norms are achievable. No post-processing procedure is required to compute the strain and stress, since the original solution from the present method, using the moving least squares approximation, is already smooth enough.