Boundary element analysis in thermoelasticity with and without internal cells

In this paper, a set of internal stress integral equations is derived for solving thermoelastic problems. A jump term and a strongly singular domain integral associated with the temperature of the material are produced in these equations. The strongly singular domain integral is then regularized using a semi‐analytical technique. To avoid the requirement of discretizing the domain into internal cells, domain integrals included in both displacement and internal stress integral equations are transformed into equivalent boundary integrals using the radial integration method (RIM). Two numerical examples for 2D and 3D, respectively, are presented to verify the derived formulations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

无域积分的弹塑性边界元法的非线性互补方法

该文引入非线性互补方法来求解边界元法的弹塑性问题,其中方程组由内部点应力方程和反映塑性本构定律的互补函数形成。涉及的域积分采用径向积分法转化为边界积分。通过受内压的厚壁圆筒的应力、位移和荷载-位移情况表明了该算法的精度。     

Analytical treatment of boundary integrals in direct boundary element analysis of plate bending problems

A direct-type Boundary Element Method (BEM) for the analysis of simply supported and built-in plates is employed. The integral equations due to a combined biharmonic and harmonic governing equations are first established. The boundary integrals developed are then evaluated analytically. The domain integrals due to external body forces are also transformed over the boundary and subsequently evaluated analytically. Thus, it needs only the boundary to be discretized. Without loss of generality, the exact expression for the integrals would enhance the solution accuracy of the BEM. This is due to the fact that at locations where the fundamental solutions approach their singular points the value determined by numerical quadrature may be inconsistent and inaccurate. Also, another major advantage of the exact expressions for integrations is the insensitivity to the geometrical location of the source point on the boundary. The distribution of boundary quantities is approximated either over linear or quadratic boundary elements. General type of plate bending problems, with plates of different geometrical shapes supported simply or fixed can be handled. Loading may be applied point concentrated, uniformly distributed within the domain or over the boundary. Also, hydrostatic pressure can be applied. The results obtained by BEM in comparison with those obtained by analytical or other approximate solutions are found to be very accurate and the solution method is efficient.     

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.     

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.     

Dual reciprocity boundary element method using compactly supported radial basis functions for 3D linear elasticity with body forces

A new computational model by integrating the boundary element method and the compactly supported radial basis functions (CSRBF) is developed for three-dimensional (3D) linear elasticity with the presence of body forces. The corresponding displacement and stress particular solution kernels across the supported radius in the CSRBF are obtained for inhomogeneous term interpolation. Subsequently, the classical dual reciprocity boundary element method, in which the domain integrals due to the presence of body forces are transferred into equivalent boundary integrals, is formulated by introducing locally supported displacement and stress particular solution kernels for solving the inhomogeneous 3D linear elastic system. Finally, several examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present method.     

A nonlinear complementarity approach for elastoplastic problems by BEM without internal cells

A nonlinear complementarity approach is presented to solve elastoplastic problems by the boundary element method, in which the equations are formulated by stress equations and complementarity function obtained from the plasticity constitutive law. The domain integrals involved are transformed into boundary integrals by radial integration method, using compactly supported radial basis functions. Two numerical examples demonstrate the algorithm’s applicability and effectiveness.     

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.     

Radial integration boundary integral and integro-differential equation methods for two-dimensional heat conduction problems with variable coefficients

This paper presents new formulations of the radial integration boundary integral equation (RIBIE) and the radial integration boundary integro-differential equation (RIBIDE) methods for the numerical solution of two-dimensional heat conduction problems with variable coefficients. The methods use a specially constructed parametrix (Levi function) to reduce the boundary-value problem (BVP) to a boundary-domain integral equation (BDIE) or boundary-domain integro-differential equation (BDIDE). The radial integration method is then employed to convert the domain integrals arising in both BDIE and BDIDE methods into equivalent boundary integrals. The resulting formulations lead to pure boundary integral and integro-differential equations with no domain integrals. Numerical examples are presented for several simple problems, for which exact solutions are available, to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methods.     

Efficient evaluation of weakly/strongly singular domain integrals in the BEM using a singular nodal integration method

In many analyses of engineering problems based on boundary element methods, a large number of regular and/or singular domain integrals must be accurately evaluated over a single domain. Evaluation of such domain integrals is very time-consuming and is frequently the main source of errors and loss of accuracy in the solutions. Previous efforts have been constantly made in order to facilitate or overcome such shortcomings. In this article, we propose novel and efficient approaches in the framework of Cartesian transformation method (CTM) and the radial integration method (RIM) that can be used for fast evaluation of numerous weakly/strongly singular two-dimensional domain integrals over a single domain. The domain integrals essentially are expressed in terms of some coefficient matrices and vectors, most of which are independent of the integrand of the domain integrals and are dependent only on the geometry. Several examples for the evaluation of weakly/strongly singular domain integrals and two examples for the flow field analysis in micro-channels are presented and the accuracy and convergence of the proposed approaches are investigated.     

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.     

Elastodynamic problems by meshless local integral method: Analytical formulation

In this paper, analytical forms of integrals in the meshless local integral equation method in the Laplace space are derived and implemented for elastodynamic problems. The meshless approximation based on the radial basis function (RBF) is employed for implementation of displacements. A weak form of governing equations with a unit test function is transformed into local integral equations. A completed set of the local boundary integrals are obtained in closed form. As the closed form of the local boundary integrals are obtained, there are no domain or boundary integrals to be calculated numerically. Several examples including dynamic fracture mechanics problems are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed method in comparison with analytical solutions and the boundary element method.     

The multiple Reciprocity boundary element method in elasticity: A new approach for transforming domain integrals to the boundary

This paper presents a new boundary element approach to transform domain integrals into equivalent boundary integrals. The technique, called the Multiple Reciprocity Method, is applied to 2-D elasticity problems and operates on domain integrals resulting from different types of body forces such as gravitational and centrifugal forces, as well as loadings due to linear and quadratic temperature distributions. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the method.     

A BEM approach to static and dynamic analysis of plates with internal supports

A boundary element approach is developed for the static and dynamic analysis of Kirchhoff's plates of arbitrary shape which, in addition to the boundary supports, are also supported inside the domain on isolated points (columns), lines (walls) or regions (patches). All kinds of boundary conditions are treated. The supports inside the domain of the plate may yield elastically. The method uses the Green's function for the static problem without the internal supports to establish an integral representation for the solution which involves the unknown internal reactions and inertia forces within the integrand of the domain integrals. The Green's function is established numerically using BEM. Subsequently, using an effective Gauss integration for the domain integrals and a BEM technique for line integrals a system of simultaneous, in general, nonlinear algebraic equations is obtained which is solved numerically. Several examples for both the static and dynamic problem are presented to illustrate the efficiency and the accuracy of the proposed method.     

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.     

Boundary-only element solutions of 2D and 3D nonlinear and nonhomogeneous elastic problems

This paper presents a robust boundary element method (BEM) that can be used to solve elastic problems with nonlinearly varying material parameters, such as the functionally graded material (FGM) and damage mechanics problems. The main feature of this method is that no internal cells are required to evaluate domain integrals appearing in the conventional integral equations derived for these problems, and very few internal points are needed to improve the computational accuracy. In addition, one of the basic field quantities used in the boundary integral equations is normalized by the material parameter. As a result, no gradients of the field quantities are involved in the integral equations. Another advantage of using the normalized quantities is that no material parameters are included in the boundary integrals, so that a unified equation form can be established for multi-region problems which have different material parameters. This is very efficient for solving composite structural problems.     

Transient meshless boundary element method for prediction of chloride diffusion in concrete with time dependent nonlinear coefficients

Chloride-induced corrosion of steel reinforcements has been identified as one of the main causes of deterioration of concrete structures. A feasible numerical method is required to predict chloride penetration in concrete structures. A transient meshless boundary element method is proposed to predict chloride diffusion in concrete with time dependent nonlinear coefficient. Taking Green's function as the weighted function, the weighted residue method is adopted to transform the diffusion equation into equivalent integral equations. By the coupling of radial integral method and radial basis function approximation, the domain integrals in equivalent control equations are transformed into boundary integrals. Following the general procedure of boundary element meshing and traditional finite difference method, a set of nonlinear algebraic equations are constructed and are eventually solved with the modified Newtonian iterative method. Several numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the developed model. A comparison of the simulated chloride concentration with the corresponding reported experimental data in a real marine structure indicates the high accuracy and advantage of the time dependent coefficient and nonlinear model over the conventional constant coefficient model.     

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.     

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD IN THE DYNAMICS OF FLEXIBLE BODIES

This paper presents the implementation of the Boundary Element Method in the dynamics of flexible multibody systems. Kane's equations are used to formulate the governing boundary initial value problem for an arbitrary three-dimensional elastic body subjected to large overall base motion. Using continuum mechanics principles, direct boundary element incremental formulations are derived. The Galerkin approach was employed to generate the weighted residual statement which serves as a transitory point between continuum mechanics and boundary integral equations. By adapting the updated Langrangian formulation for large displacements analysis and using the Maxwell–Betti reciprocal theorem, integral representations for geometric stiffening were also derived. The non-linear terms were found to be functions of the time-variant stresses associated with the inertial forces at the reference configuration. The domain integrals arising from body forces (such as gravitational loads, inertia loads and thermal loads, etc.) are presented as DRM integrals (Dual-Reciprocity Method). Using the substructuring technique the elastic body is divided into several regions leading to a system of equations whose matrices are sparse (block-banded). The linearized equations of motion were discretized along the boundary of the body, and an algorithm for the integration involving the Houbolt method was used to establish an algebraic system of pseudo-static equilibrium equations. A Newton–Raphson-type iteration scheme was used to solve these discretized balance equations. To take advantage of the sparsity of the matrices, special routines were used to decompose and solve the resulting linear system of equations. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the validity of the method as well as how the effects of geometric stiffening effects are captured. The example consists of spin-up manoeuvre of a tapered beam attached to a moving base. The beam was modelled as two-dimensional plane strain problem divided into a number of substructures. Numerical simulation results show how the phenomenon of dynamic stiffening is captured by the present approach.     

Boundary integral equations and the boundary element method for fracture mechanics analysis in 2D anisotropic thermoelasticity

This paper develops the Somigliana type boundary integral equations for fracture of anisotropic thermoelastic solids using the Stroh formalism and the theory of analytic functions. In the absence of body forces and internal heat sources, obtained integral equations contain only curvilinear integrals over the solid’s boundary and crack faces. Thus, the volume integration is eliminated and also there is no need to evaluate integrals over the contours in the mapped temperature domain as it was done before. In addition to finite solids, the case of an infinite anisotropic medium with a remote thermal load is also studied. The dual boundary element method for fracture of anisotropic thermoelastic solids is developed based on the obtained boundary integral equations. Presented numerical examples show the validity and efficiency of the obtained equations in the analysis of both finite and infinite solids with cracks.