The use of Stokes' fundamental solution for the boundary only element formulation of the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations for moderate Reynolds numbers

This paper presents a boundary element formulation for the permanent Navier–Stokes equations in which the well-known closed-form fundamental solution for the steady Stokes equations is employed. In this way, from the integral representation formulae for the Stokes' equations, an integral equation is found in which the original non-linear convective terms of the Navier–Stokes equations appear as a domain integral. Additionally, the method of dual reciprocity is used to transform the domain integral to boundary integrals (this method is closely related to the method of particular integrals also used in the literature to transform domain integrals to boundary integrals). Numerical results are presented for the three-dimensional internal flow in a cylindrical container with a rotating cover, in which the accuracy of the method is shown.     

Modal analysis of anisotropic plates using the boundary element method

A numerical formulation for analysis of dynamic problems of thin anisotropic plates bending is presented. The bending behavior follows Kirchhoff's hypothesis. The formulation is based on the direct boundary element method. The problem is simplified by using the elastostatic fundamental solution of an infinite plate. Domain integrals arising from inertial terms are transformed into boundary integrals using the dual reciprocity technique. Boundary integrals are discretized and evaluated numerically. Natural frequencies for free vibration are obtained and the respective mode shapes are shown. The accuracy of numerical results obtained is assured by comparison with analytical or finite element results.     

Source point isolation boundary element method for solving general anisotropic potential and elastic problems with varying material properties

This paper presents a new robust boundary element method, based on a source point isolation technique, for solving general anisotropic potential and elastic problems with varying coefficients. Different types of fundamental solutions can be used to derive the basic integral equations for specific anisotropic problems, although fundamental solutions corresponding to isotropic problems are recommended and adopted in the paper. The use of isotropic fundamental solutions for anisotropic and/or varying material property problems results in domain integrals in the basic integral equations. The radial integration method is employed to transform the domain integrals into boundary integrals, resulting in a pure boundary element analysis algorithm that does not need any internal cells. Numerical examples for 2D and 3D potential and elastic problems are given to demonstrate the correctness and robustness of the proposed method.     

Inversion of the seismic parabolic Radon transform and the seismic hyperbolic Radon transform

Reflection seismology is a method of exploration of the hidden structure of the earth subsurface by processing received seismograms. For a long time, this processing utilizes the so-called slant stack transform, or line Radon transform. More recently, two generalizations of the slant stack transform have been introduced to extract new features of the seismic data and to improve their treatment. These transforms are the parabolic and hyperbolic seismic Radon transforms. The first transform maps a given function to its integrals over parabolas with a fixed axis direction, whereas the second one maps a function to its integrals over hyperbolas (more generally also over ellipses and circles) of fixed axis directions. We show how they can be converted to a line Radon transform, and thereby obtain their inversion formulas. Numerical simulations for each transform were performed and commented to illustrate the suggested algorithms.     

Boundary element modelling to solve the Grad–Shafranov equation as an axisymmetric problem

The Grad–Shafranov equation describes the magnetic flux distribution of plasma in an axisymmetric system like a tokamak-type nuclear fusion device. The equation is transformed into an equivalent boundary integral equation by expanding the inhomogeneous term related to the plasma current into a polynomial. In the present research, the singularity of the fundamental solution, which consists of two elliptic integrals, and the properties of singular integrals have been minutely investigated. The discontinuous quadratic boundary elements have been introduced to give an accurate solution with a small number of boundary elements. Ampere's circuital law has been applied to estimate the total plasma current from the boundary integral of the poloidal field, and based on this idea, a new scheme to calculate the eigenvalue has also been proposed.     

Free and forced vibrations of plates by boundary and interior elements

A direct boundary element method is developed for the dynamic analysis of thin elastic flexural plates of arbitrary planform and boundary conditions. The formulation employs the static fundamental solution of the problem and this creates not only boundary integrals but surface integrals as well owing to the presence of the inertia force. Thus the discretization consists of boundary as well as interior elements. Quadratic isoparametric elements and quadratic isoparametric or constant elements are employed for the boundary and interior discretization, respectively. Both free and forced vibrations are considered. The free vibration problem is reduced to a matrix eigenvalue problem with matrix coefficients independent of frequency. The forced vibration problem is solved with the aid of the Laplace transform with respect to time and this requires a numerical inversion of the transformed solution to obtain the plate dynamic response to arbitrary transient loading. The effect of external viscous or internal viscoelastic damping on the response is also studied. The proposed method is compared against the direct boundary element method in conjunction with the dynamic fundamental solution as well as the finite element method primarily by means of a number of numerical examples. These examples also serve to illustrate the use of the proposed method.     

BIEM for 2D steady-state problems in cracked anisotropic materials

The two-dimensional ‘in-plane’ time-harmonic elasto-dynamic problem for anisotropic cracked solid is studied. The non-hypersingular traction boundary integral equation method (BIEM) is used in conjunction with closed form frequency dependent fundamental solution, obtained by Radon transform. Accuracy and convergence of the numerical solution for stress intensity factor (SIF) is studied by comparison with existing solutions in isotropic, transversely-isotropic and orthotropic cases. In addition a parametric study for the wave field sensitivity on wave, crack and anisotropic material parameters is presented.     

Modal analysis of plates using the dual reciprocity boundary element method

This paper presents a new method for determining the natural frequencies and mode shapes for the free vibration of thin elastic plates using the boundary element and dual reciprocity methods. The solution to the plate's equation of motion is assumed to be of separable form. The problem is further simplified by using the fundamental solution of an infinite plate in the reciprocity theorem. Except for the inertia term, all domain integrals are transformed into boundary integrals using the reciprocity theorem. However, the inertia domain integral is evaluated in terms of the boundary nodes by using the dual reciprocity method. In this method, a set of interior points is selected and the deflection at these points is assumed to be a series of approximating functions. The reciprocity theorem is applied to reduce the domain integrals to a boundary integral. To evaluate the boundary integrals, the displacements and rotations are assumed to vary linearly along the boundary. The boundary integrals are discretized and evaluated numerically. The resulting matrix equations are significantly smaller than the finite element formulation for an equivalent problem. Mode shapes for the free vibration of circular and rectangular plates are obtained and compared with analytical and finite element results.     

Two-dimensional time-harmonic BEM for cracked anisotropic solids

A mixed time-harmonic boundary element procedure for the analysis of two-dimensional dynamic problems in cracked solids of general anisotropy is presented. To the author's knowledge, no previous BE approach for time-harmonic two-dimensional crack problems in anisotropic solids exists. In the present work, the fundamental solution is split into the static singular part plus dynamic regular terms. Hypersingular integrals associated to the singular part in the traction boundary integral equation are transformed, by means of a simple change of variable, into regular ones plus very simple singular integrals with known analytical solution. Subsequently, only regular (frequency dependent) terms have to be added to the regularized static fundamental solution in order to solve the dynamic problem. The generality of this procedure permits the use of general straight or curved quadratic boundary elements. In particular, discontinuous quarter-point elements are used to represent the crack-tip behavior. Stress intensity factors are accurately computed from the nodal crack opening displacements at discontinuous quarter-point elements. The efficiency and robustness of the present time-harmonic BEM are verified numerically by several test examples. Results are also obtained for more complex configurations, not previously studied in the literature. They include curved crack geometry.     

A new visco- and elastodynamic time domain Boundary Element formulation

The usual time domain Boundary Element Method (BEM) contains fundamental solutions which are convoluted with time-dependent boundary data and integrated over the boundary surface. If the fundamental solution is known, e.g., in Elastodynamics, the temporal convolution can be performed analytically when the boundary data are approximated by polynomial shape functions in time and in the boundary elements. This formulation is well known, but the resulting time-stepping BEM procedure produces instabilities and high numerical damping, when the time step size is chosen too small and too large, respectively. Moreover, in case of viscoelastic or poroelastic domains, the fundamental solution is known only in the frequency domain such that the time history of a response can only be obtained by an inverse transformation of the frequency domain results. Here, a new approach for the evaluation of the convolution integrals, the so-called “Operational Quadrature Methods” developed by LUBICH, is presented. In this formulation, the convolution integral is numerically approximated by a quadrature formula whose weights are determined by the Laplace transform of the fundamental solution and a linear multistep method. Hence, the frequency domain fundamental solution can be used without the need of an inverse transformation. Therefore, the extension to viscoelastic problems succeeds using the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle.     

Hyper and strong singularities of the Fourier BEM

The range of applications of Boundary Element Methods (BEM) is restricted to cases where the fundamental solution is known. An approach recently developed by the author via the Fourier transform generalizes the BEM to the so-called Fourier BEM (Fourier BEM—generalization of boundary element methods by Fourier Transform. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2002). There, new boundary integral equations (BIE) are formulated, which consist only of Fourier transformed terms and lead to equivalent matrices as in the standard approach. They make use of only the Fourier transform of the fundamental solution, which is much easier to obtain (available for all cases as long as the differential operator is linear and has constant coefficients). No inverse transform and no fundamental solution in the original space are required. Here, the theory is summarized and an example of anisotropic elasticity is given to motivate the discussion of singularities, which is the topic of this paper. It is shown, that all types of singularities (weak, strong, and hyper) occur as in the standard approach and that they require a new treatment because they are originating from newly developed integral equations. The main result is that the non-regular parts of the strong and hyper singular integrals cancel if ordered correctly.     

A comparison of transformation methods for evaluating two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals

Accurate numerical evaluation of integrals arising in the boundary element method is fundamental to achieving useful results via this solution technique. In this paper, a number of techniques are considered to evaluate the weakly singular integrals which arise in the solution of Laplace's equation in three dimensions and Poisson's equation in two dimensions. Both are two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals and are evaluated using (in a product fashion) methods which have recently been used for evaluating one‐dimensional weakly singular integrals arising in the boundary element method. The methods used are based on various polynomial transformations of conventional Gaussian quadrature points where the transformation polynomial has zero Jacobian at the singular point. Methods which split the region of integration into sub‐regions are considered as well as non‐splitting methods. In particular, the newly introduced and highly accurate generalized composite subtraction of singularity and non‐linear transformation approach (GSSNT) is applied to various two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals. A study of the different methods reveals complex relationships between transformation orders, position of the singular point, integration kernel and basis function. It is concluded that the GSSNT method gives the best overall results for the two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals studied. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three-dimensional transient heat conduction analysis by Laplace transformation and multiple reciprocity boundary face method

In this paper, a new multiple reciprocity formulation is developed to solve the transient heat conduction problem. The time dependence of the problem is removed temporarily from the equations by the Laplace transform. The new formulation is derived from the modified Helmholtz equation in Laplace space (LS), in which the higher order fundamental solutions of this equation are firstly derived and used in multiple reciprocity method (MRM). Using the new formulation, the domain integrals can be converted into boundary integrals and several non-integral terms. Thus the main advantage of the boundary integral equations (BIE) method, avoiding the domain discretization, is fully preserved. The convergence speed of these higher order fundamental solutions is high, thus the infinite series of boundary integrals can be truncated by a small number of terms. To get accurate results in the real space with better efficiency, the Gaver-Wynn-Rho method is employed. And to integrate the geometrical modeling and the thermal analysis into a uniform platform, our method is implemented based on the framework of the boundary face method (BFM). Numerical examples show that our method is very efficient for transient heat conduction computation. The obtained results are accurate at both internal and boundary points. Our method outperforms most existing methods, especially concerning the results at early time steps.     

A Green's function time‐domain boundary element method for the elastodynamic half‐plane

The transient Green's function of the 2‐D Lamb's problem for the general case where point source and receiver are situated beneath the traction‐free surface is derived. The derivations are based on Laplace‐transform methods, utilizing the Cagniard–de Hoop inversion. The Green's function is purely algebraic without any integrals and is presented in a numerically applicable form for the first time. It is used to develop a Green's function BEM in which surface discretizations on the traction‐free boundary can be saved. The time convolution is performed numerically in an abstract complex plane. Hence, the respective integrals are regularized and only a few evaluations of the Green's function are required. This fast procedure has been applied for the first time. The Green's function BEM developed proved to be very accurate and efficient in comparison with analogue BEMs that employ the fundamental solution. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of thin plates on elastic foundations with boundary element method

An alternative Integral Equation Formulation to deal with thin plates on elastic foundations is developed. The field equation is decomposed into two equations in partial derivatives of second order, which are formulated in an integral form by application of a reciprocity theorem. In this way, no divergent integrals appear in the formulation and the auxiliary function is the fundamental solution of Laplace equation. The domain integrals are transformed into equivalent boundary integrals, although in general it is necessary to introduce some internal points. Two examples will be studied to prove the efficiency of the formulation proposed.     

Free vibration analysis of anisotropic material structures using the boundary element method

This paper presents a formulation for the analysis of free vibration in anisotropic structures using the boundary element method. The fundamental solution for elastostatic is used and the inertial terms are treated as body forces providing domain integrals. The dual reciprocity boundary element method is used to reduce domain integrals to boundary integrals. Mode shapes and natural frequencies for free vibration of orthotropic structures are obtained and compared with finite element results showing good agreement.     

Numerical treatment of finite part integrals in 2-D boundary element analysis with application infracture mechanics

For the solution of problems in fracture mechanics by the boundary element method usually the subregion technique is employed to decouple the crack surfaces. In this paper a different procedure is presented. By using the displacement boundary integral equation on one side of the crack surface and the hypersingular traction boundary integral equation on the opposite side, one can renounce the subregion technique.An essential point when applying the traction boundary integral equation is the treatment of the thus arising hypersingular integrals. Two methods for their numerical computation are presented, both based on the finite part concept. One may either scale the integrals properly and use a specific quadrature rule, or one may apply the definition formula for finite part integrals and transform the resulting regular integrals into the usual element coordinate system afterwards. While the former method is restricted to linear or circular approximations of the boundary geometry, the latter one allows for arbitrary curved (e.g. isoparametric) elements. Two numerical examples are enclosed to demonstrate the accuracy of the two boundary integral equations technique compared with the subregion technique.     

Dynamic analysis of inelastic plates by the D/BEM

A direct boundary element method is developed for the dynamic analysis of thin inelastic flexural plates of arbitrary planform and boundary conditions. It employs the static fundamental solution of the associated elastic problem and involves not only boundary integrals but domain integrals as well. Thus boundary as well as interior elements are employed in the numerical solution. Time integration is accomplished by the explicit algorithm of the central difference predictor method. A viscoplastic constitutive theory with state variables is employed to model the material behaviour. Numerical results are also presented to illustrate quantitatively the proposed method of solution.     

Analysis of anisotropic Kirchhoff plates using a novel hypersingular BEM

In this article a hypersingular boundary element method (BEM) for bending of thin anisotropic plates is presented. A new complex variable fundamental solution is implemented in the algorithm. For spatial discretization a collocation method with discontinuous quadratic elements is adopted. The domain integrals arising from the transversely applied load are transformed analytically into boundary integrals by means of the radial integration technique. The considered numerical examples prove that the novel BEM formulation presented in this study is much more efficient than previous formulations developed for the analysis of this kind of problems.     

Iterative solution of systems of equations in the dual reciprocity boundary element method for the diffusion equation

In this paper the diffusion equation is solved in two-dimensional geometry by the dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM). It is structured by fully implicit discretization over time and by weighting with the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation. The resulting domain integral of the diffusive term is transformed into two boundary integrals by using Green's second identity, and the domain integral of the transience term is converted into a finite series of boundary integrals by using dual reciprocity interpolation based on scaled augmented thin plate spline global approximation functions. Straight line geometry and constant field shape functions for boundary discretization are employed. The described procedure results in systems of equations with fully populated unsymmetric matrices. In the case of solving large problems, the solution of these systems by direct methods may be very time consuming. The present study investigates the possibility of using iterative methods for solving these systems of equations. It was demonstrated that Krylov-type methods like CGS and GMRES with simple Jacobi preconditioning appeared to be efficient and robust with respect to the problem size and time step magnitude. This paper can be considered as a logical starting point for research of iterative solutions to DRBEM systems of equations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.