Axisymmetric formulation for boundary integral equation methods in scalar potential problems

Axisymmetric geometries often appear in electromagnetic device studies. The authors present an original formulation for Boundary Integral Equation methods in scalar potential problems. This technique requires only 2D boundary in the r-z plane and evaluation of the equations only on those boundaries.     

A local boundary integral equation method for potential problems

Boundary integral equation (boundary element) methods have the advantage over other commonly used numerical methods that they do not require values of the unknowns at points within the solution domain to be computed. Further benefits would be obtained if attention could be confined to information at one small part of the boundary, the particular region of interest in a given problem. A local boundary integral equation method based on a Taylor series expansion of the unknown function is developed to do this for two-dimensional potential problems governed by Laplace's equation. Very accurate local values of the function and its derivatives can be obtained. The method should find particular application in the efficient refinement of approximate solutions obtained by other numerical techniques.     

An infinite boundary element formulation for three-dimensional potential problems

An infinite boundary element (IBE) is presented for the analysis of three-dimensional potential problems in an unbounded medium. The IBE formulations are done to allow their coupling with the finite element (FE) matrices for finite domains and to obtain the overall matrices without destroying the banded structure of the FE matrices. The infinite body is divided into a number of zones whose contributions are expressed in terms of the nodal quantities at FE nodes by employing suitable decay functions and performing mainly analytical integrations of the boundary element kernels. The continuity and compatibility conditions for the potential and the flux at the FE-IBE interface are developed. The relationships for the contributions of the IBE flux vectors to the FE load vectors are given. The final equations for the IBE are obtained in the usual FE stiffness-load vector form and are easily assembled with the FE matrices for the finite object. A series of numerical examples in heat transfer and electromagnetics were solved and compared with alternative solutions to demonstrate the validity of the present formulations.     

Accuracy of desingularized boundary integral equations for plane exterior potential problems

In this article, computational results from boundary integral equations and their normal derivatives for the same test cases are compared. Both kinds of formulations are desingularized on their real boundary. The test cases are chosen as a uniform flow past a circular cylinder for both the Dirichlet and Neumann problems. The results indicate that the desingularized method for the standard boundary integral equation has a much larger convergence speed than the desingularized method for the hypersingular boundary integral equation. When uniform nodes are distributed on a circle, for the standard boundary integral formulation the accuracies in the test cases reach the computer limit of 10⁻¹⁵ in the Neumann problems; and O(N⁻³) in the Dirichlet problems. However, for the desingularized hypersingular boundary integral formulation, the convergence speeds drop to only O(N⁻¹) in both the Neumann and Dirichlet problems.     

Notes on boundary integral equations for three-dimensional magnetostatics

Several methods of formulating two-region magnetostatics problems with boundary integral equations and scalar potentials are discussed. These integral equations contain single- (i.e., monopole) and/or double- (i.e., dipole) layer source distributions. If only one type of source is used for both regions, certain numerical difficulties occur, which are discussed. For numerical accuracy a combined approach is adopted: it is sufficient to choose single layers in the exterior or less permeable region and to use double layers in the interior high-permeability region and at the interface. As an example, the combined method is applied to a recording head energized with a current loop.     

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.     

A multivalued boundary integral equation for adhesive contact problems

The present paper proposes a boundary integral equation (BIE) formulation for adhesive contact interface problems, i.e. problems involving interfaces glued by adhesives where unilateral contact conditions also hold. A non-monotonic, multi-valued law is assumed to describe the behaviour of the adhesive tangential to the interface direction, which leads to a hemivariational inequality problem. For the numerical treatment of the non-convex-non-smooth optimization problem, a new method is proposed which reduces the initial problem to a sequence of simple quadratic programming problems.     

A symmetric boundary integral formulation for cohesive interface problems

An incremental symmetric boundary integral formulation for the problem of many domains connected by non-linear cohesive interfaces is here presented. The problem of domains with traction-free cracks and/or rigid connections are particular instances of the proposed cohesive formulation. The numerical approximation of the considered problem is achieved by the symmetric Galerkin boundary element method.     

Coupling finite and boundary element methods for two-dimensional potential problems

A finite-element-boundary-element (FE-BE) coupling method based on a weighted residual variational method is presented for potential problems, governed by either the Laplace or the Poisson equations. In this method, a portion of the domain of interest is modelled by finite elements (FE) and the remainder of the region by boundary elements (BE). Because the BE fundamental solutions are valid for infinite domains, a procedure that limits the effect of the BE fundamental solution to a small region adjacent to the FE region, called the transition region (TR), is developed. This procedure involves a judicious choice of functions called the transition (T) functions that have unit values on the BE-TR interface and zero values on the FE-TR interface. The present FE-BE coupling algorithm is shown to be independent of the extent of the transition region and the choice of the transition functions. Therefore, transition regions that extend to only one layer of elements between FE and BE regions and the use of simple linear transition functions work well.     

Dual boundary integral equations for exterior problems

A dual integral formulation for the interior problem of the Laplace equation with a smooth boundary is extended to the exterior problem. Two regularized versions are proposed and compared with the interior problem. It is found that an additional free term is present in the second regularized version of the exterior problem. An analytical solution for a benchmark example in ISBE is derived by two methods, conformal mapping and the Poisson integral formula using symbolic software. The potential gradient on the boundary is calculated by using the hypersingular integral equation except on the two singular points where the potential is discontinuous instead of failure in ISBE benchmarks. Based on the matrix relations between the interior and exterior problems, the BEPO2D program for the interior problem can be easily reintegrated. This benchmark example was used to check the validity of the dual integral formulation, and the numerical results match the exact solution well.     

A regularized boundary integral equation method for elastodynamic crack problems

This paper presents a double layer potential approach of elastodynamic BIE crack analysis. Our method regularizes the conventional strongly singular expressions for the traction of double layer potential into forms including integrable kernels and 0th, 1st and 2nd order derivatives of the double layer density. The manipulation is systematized by the use of the stress function representation of the differentiated double layer kernel functions. This regularization, together with the use of B-spline functions, is shown to provide accurate numerical methods of crack analysis in 3D time harmonic elastodynamics.     

A boundary integral method for internal piece-wise smooth crack problems

A new boundary integral method for plane elasticity problems with internal piece-wise smooth cracks is presented. The method can be applied to both infinite and finite geometries. A numerical technique which combines a collocation method for the cracks and the standard BEM technique for the outer boundary is used to solve the integral equations. Numerical examples are presented and compared either to existing solutions or to FEM calculations. All of the results provided by the present method are shown to be very accurate for both smooth and kinked cracks in both finite and infinite geometries.

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Résumé On présente une nouvelle méthode par intégrale de contour pour solutionner des problèmes d'élasticité plane de géométries comportant des fissures lisses similaires à des pièces. Cette méthode est applicable à des géométries infinies ou finies. Pour solutionner les équations intégrales, on utilise une technique numérique combinant une méthode de collocation pour les fissures, et la technique standard BEM pour les limites extérieures. On compare les exemples numériques et on les compare aux solutions existantes ou aux résultats de calculs par éléments finis. On montre que les résultats présentés par la présente méthode sont très précis pour des fissures lisses ou tourmentées, dans des géométries finies ou infinies.

     

A note on a Galerkin technique for integral equations in potential flows

The properties are studied of a Galerkin numerical solution of integral equations for an assumed singularity distribution or a velocity potential arising in potential flows around rigid bodies in incompressible aerodynamics, acoustics and surface waves. The body boundary is approximated by a collection of panels and the integral equation is averaged over each panel instead of being enforced at a collocation point. For the resulting Galerkin synthesis the matrix equation obtained for the source distribution is the exact transpose of the corresponding equation obtained for the velocity potential on the body boundary, a property known to hold for the continuous operators. Moreover, the integrated hydrodynamic forces experienced by the body are shown to be identically predicted by the source-distribution method or by directly solving for the velocity potential.     

A boundary element approach for non-homogeneous potential problems

This paper reports an implementation of a Boundary Element Method dealing with two-dimensional inhomogeneous potential problems. This method avoids the tedious calculation of the domain integral contributions to the boundary integral equations. This is achieved by applying approximate particular solutions which are obtained by expressing the source distribution in terms of a linear combination of radial basis functions. Numerical examples show that the method is efficient and can produce accurate results.     

A new boundary integral equation method of three-dimensional crack analysis

Introducing the mode II and mode III dislocation densities W ₂(y) and W ₃(y) of two variables, a new boundary integral equation method is proposed for the problem of a plane crack of arbitrary shape in a three-dimensional infinite elastic body under arbitrary unsymmetric loads. The fundamental stress solutions for three-dimensional crack analysis and the limiting formulas of stress intensity factors are derived. The problem is reduced to solving three two-dimensional singular boundary integral equations. The analytic solution of the axisymmetric problem of a circular crack under the unsymmetric loads is obtained. Some numerical examples of an elliptical crack or a semielliptical crack are given. The present formulations are of basic significance for further analytic or numerical analysis of three-dimensional crack problems.     

An advanced boundary integral equation method for three-dimensional thermoelasticity

The features of an advanced numerical solution capability for boundary value problems of linear, homogeneous, isotropic, steady-state thermoelasticity theory are outlined. The influence on the stress field of thermal gradient, or comparable mechanical body force, is shown to depend on surface integrals only. Hence discretization for numerical purposes is confined to body surfaces. Several problems are solved, and verification of numerical procedures is obtained by comparison with accepted results from the literature.     

Singular boundary elements for three-dimensional elasticity problems

The focus of this paper is a set of semi-discontinuous, traction-singular surface elements introduced to help the rigorous boundary integral analysis of problems in three-dimensional solid mechanics. In contrast to the singular boundary elements developed for linear fracture mechanics where the square-root singularity is of primary interest, traction shape functions featuring the proposed four- and eight-node boundary elements can be used to represent power-type singularities of arbitrary order, such as those arising at non-smooth material boundaries and interfaces. Apart from being capable of rigorously handling traction singularities and discontinuities across the domain boundaries and interfaces, these elements also permit a smooth transition to adjacent regular elements. Complemented with a family of suitable displacement and geometry shape functions, the singular surface elements are incorporated into a regularized boundary integral equation method and shown, through a set of benchmark results, to perform well for both static and dynamic problems.     

A comparison of domain integral evaluation techniques for boundary element methods

In many cases, boundary integral equations contain a domain integral. This can be evaluated by discretization of the domain into domain elements. Historically, this was seen as going against the spirit of boundary element methods, and several methods were developed to avoid this discretization, notably dual and multiple reciprocity methods and particular solution methods. These involved the representation of the interior function with a set of basis functions, generally of the radial type. In this study, meshless methods (dual reciprocity and particular solution) are compared to the direct domain integration methods. The domain integrals are evaluated using traditional methods and also with multipole acceleration. It is found that the direct integration always results in better accuracy, as well as smaller computation times. In addition, the multipole method further improves on the computation times, in particular where multiple evaluations of the integral are required, as when iterative solvers are used. The additional error produced by the multipole acceleration is negligible. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.