Self‐regular boundary integral equation formulations for Laplace's equation in 2‐D

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the application of the self‐regular formulation strategy using Green's identity (potential‐BIE) and its gradient form (flux‐BIE) for Laplace's equation. Self‐regular formulations lead to highly effective BEM algorithms that utilize standard conforming boundary elements and low‐order Gaussian integrations. Both formulations are discussed and implemented for two‐dimensional potential problems, and numerical results are presented. Potential results show that the use of quartic interpolations is required for the flux‐BIE to show comparable accuracy to the potential‐BIE using quadratic interpolations. On the other hand, flux error results in the potential‐BIE implementation can be dominated by the numerical integration of the logarithmic kernel of the remaining weakly singular integral. Accuracy of these flux results does not improve beyond a certain level when using standard quadrature together with a special transformation, but when an alternative logarithmic quadrature scheme is used these errors are shown to reduce abruptly, and the flux results converge monotonically to the exact answer. In the flux‐BIE implementation, where all integrals are regularized, flux results accuracy improves systematically, even with some oscillations, when refining the mesh or increasing the order of the interpolating function. The flux‐BIE approach presents a great numerical sensitivity to the mesh generation scheme and refinement. Accurate results for the potential and the flux were obtained for coarse‐graded meshes in which the rate of change of the tangential derivative of the potential was better approximated. This numerical sensitivity and the need for graded meshes were not found in the elasticity problem for which self‐regular formulations have also been developed using a similar approach. Logarithmic quadrature to evaluate the weakly singular integral is implemented in the self‐regular potential‐BIE, showing that the magnitude of the error is dependent only on the standard Gauss integration of the regularized integral, but not on this logarithmic quadrature of the weakly singular integral. The self‐regular potential‐BIE is compared with the standard (CPV) formulation, showing the equivalence between these formulations. The self‐regular BIE formulations and computational algorithms are established as robust alternatives to singular BIE formulations for potential problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analyzing interaction between coplanar square cracks using an efficient boundary element‐free method

This paper examines the interaction between coplanar square cracks by combining the moving least‐squares (MLS) approximation and the derived boundary integral equation (BIE). A new traction BIE involving only the Cauchy singular kernels is derived by applying integration by parts to the traditional boundary integral formulation. The new traction BIE can be directly applied to a crack surface and no displacement BIE is necessary because all crack boundary conditions (both upper and lower ones) are incorporated. A boundary element‐free method is then developed by combining the derived BIE and MLS approximation, in which the crack opening displacement is first expressed as the product of weight functions and the characteristic terms, and the unknown weight is approximated with the MLS approximation. The efficiency of the developed method is tested for isotropic and transversely isotropic media. The interaction between two and three coplanar square cracks in isotropic elastic body is numerically studied and the case of any number of coplanar square cracks is deduced and discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boundary element‐free method for fracture analysis of 2‐D anisotropic piezoelectric solids

This paper considers a 2‐D fracture analysis of anisotropic piezoelectric solids by a boundary element‐free method. A traction boundary integral equation (BIE) that only involves the singular terms of order 1/r is first derived using integration by parts. New variables, namely, the tangential derivative of the extended displacement (the extended displacement density) for the general boundary and the tangential derivative of the extended crack opening displacement (the extended displacement dislocation density), are introduced to the equation so that solution to curved crack problems is possible. This resulted equation can be directly applied to general boundary and crack surface, and no separate treatments are necessary for the upper and lower surfaces of the crack. The extended displacement dislocation densities on the crack surface are expressed as the product of the characteristic terms and unknown weight functions, and the unknown weight functions are modelled using the moving least‐squares (MLS) approximation. The numerical scheme of the boundary element‐free method is established, and an effective numerical procedure is adopted to evaluate the singular integrals. The extended ‘stress intensity factors’ (SIFs) are computed for some selected example problems that contain straight or curved cracks, and good numerical results are obtained. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new variable‐order singular boundary element for two‐dimensional stress analysis

A new variable‐order singular boundary element for two‐dimensional stress analysis is developed. This element is an extension of the basic three‐node quadratic boundary element with the shape functions enriched with variable‐order singular displacement and traction fields which are obtained from an asymptotic singularity analysis. Both the variable order of the singularity and the polar profile of the singular fields are incorporated into the singular element to enhance its accuracy. The enriched shape functions are also formulated such that the stress intensity factors appear as nodal unknowns at the singular node thereby enabling direct calculation instead of through indirect extrapolation or contour‐integral methods. Numerical examples involving crack, notch and corner problems in homogeneous materials and bimaterial systems show the singular element's great versatility and accuracy in solving a wide range of problems with various orders of singularities. The stress intensity factors which are obtained agree very well with those reported in the literature. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The dual boundary contour method for two-dimensional crack problems

This paper concerns the dual boundary contour method for solving two-dimensional crack problems. The formulation of the dual boundary contour method is presented. The crack surface is modeled by using continuous quadratic boundary elements. The traction boundary contour equation is applied for traction nodes on one of the crack surfaces and the displacement boundary contour equation is applied for displacement nodes on the opposite crack surface and noncrack boundaries. The direct calculation of the singular integrals arising in displacement BIEs is addressed. These singular integrals are accurately evaluated with potential functions. The singularity subtraction technique for determining the stress intensity factor K_I, K_II and the T-term are developed for mixed mode conditions. Some two-dimensional examples are presented and numerical results obtained by this approach are in very good agreement with the results of the previous papers. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Weakly singular stress‐BEM for 2D elastostatics

A weakly singular stress‐BEM is presented in which the linear state regularizing field is extended over the entire surface. The algorithm employs standard conforming C⁰ elements with Lagrangian interpolations and exclusively uses Gaussian integration without any transformation of the integrands other than the usual mapping into the intrinsic space. The linear state stress‐BIE on which the algorithm is based has no free term so that the BEM treatment of external corners requires no special consideration other than to admit traction discontinuities. The self‐regularizing nature of the Somigliana stress identity is demonstrated to produce a very simple and effective method for computing stresses which gives excellent numerical results for all points in the body including boundary points and interior points which may be arbitrarily close to a boundary. A key observation is the relation between BIE density functions and successful interpolation orders. Numerical results for two dimensions show that the use of quartic interpolations is required for algorithms employing regularization over an entire surface to show comparable accuracy to algorithms using local regularization and quadratic interpolations. Additionally, the numerical results show that there is no general correlation between discontinuities in elemental displacement gradients and solution accuracy either in terms of unknown boundary data or interior solutions near element junctions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boundary element formulation for 3D transversely isotropic cracked bodies

The boundary traction integral representation is obtained in elasticity when the classical displacement representation is differentiated and combined according to Hooke's law. The use of both traction and displacement integral representations leads to a mixed (or dual) formulation of the BEM where the discretization effort for crack problems is much smaller than in the classical formulation. A boundary element analysis of three‐dimensional fracture mechanics problems of transversely isotropic solids based on the mixed formulation is presented in this paper. The hypersingular and strongly singular kernels appearing in the formulation are regularized by using two terms of the displacement series expansion and one term of the traction expansion, at the collocation point. All the remaining integrals are analytically evaluated or transformed by means of Stokes' theorem into regular or weakly singular integrals, which are numerically computed. The method is general and can be used for elements of any shape including quarter‐point crack front elements. No change of co‐ordinates is required for the integration. The formulation as presented in this paper is something as clear, general and easy to handle as the classical BE formulation. It is used in combination with three‐dimensional quadratic and quarter‐point elements to obtain accurate results for several different crack problems. Cracks in boundless and finite transversely isotropic domains are studied. The meshes are simple and include only discretization of the crack and the external boundary. The obtained results are in good agreement with those existing in the literature. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improved numerical method for the Traction Boundary Integral Equation by application of Stokes' theorem

This paper concerns the direct numerical evaluation of singular integrals arising in Boundary Integral Equations for displacement (BIE) and displacement gradients (BIDE), and the formulation of a Traction Boundary Integral Equation (TBIE) for solving general elastostatic crack problems. Subject to certain continuity conditions concerning displacements and tractions at the source point, singular integrals in the BIE and the BIDE corresponding to coefficients of displacement and displacement gradients at the source point are shown to be of a form that allows application of Stokes' theorem. All the singular integrals in 3-D BIE and BIDE are reduced to non-singular line integrals, and those in 2-D BIE and BIDE are evaluated in closed form. Remaining terms involve regular integrals, and no references to Cauchy or Hadamard principal values are required. Continuous isoparametric interpolations used on continuous elements local to the source point are modified to include unique displacement gradients at the source point which are compatible with all local tractions. The resulting numerical BIDE is valid for source points located arbitrarily on the boundary, including corners, and a procedure is given for constructing a TBIE from the BIDE. Some example solutions obtained using the present numerical method for the TBIE in 2-D and 3-D are presented. © British Crown Copyright 1997/DERA.     

Nonsingular traction BIEs for crack problems in elastodynamics

The nonsingular traction BIEs are derived for the Laplace transforms in elastodynamic crack problems. Two different forms of the final nonsingular traction BIEs are received with respect to the leading singularity of the integral kernels involved. In the first one, the traction BIE is derived from the integral representation of stresses which involves hypersingular kernels. In the second way, the partially regularized integral representation of stresses with strongly singular kernels is used as a starting point. The singular integrals are transformed to nonsingular ones by making use of the Stokes theorem.     

A new boundary element method for mixed boundary value problems involving cracks and holes: Interactions between rigid inclusions and cracks

This paper derives a new boundary integral equation (BIE) formulation for plane elastic bodies containing cracks and holes and subjected to mixed displacement/ traction boundary conditions, and proposes a new boundary element method (BEM) based upon this formulation. The basic unknown in the formulation is a complex boundary function H(t), which is a linear combination of the boundary traction and boundary displacement density. The present BIE formulation can be related directly to Muskhelishvili's formalism. Singular interpolation functions of order r ^–1/2 (where r is the distance measured from the crack tip) are introduced such that singular integrand involved at the element level can be integrated analytically. By applying the BEM, the interaction between a rigid circular inclusion and a crack is investigated in details. Our results for the stress intensity factor are comparable with those given by Erdogan and Gupta (1975) and Gharpuray et al. (1990) for a crack emanating from a stiff inclusion, and with those by Erdogan et al. (1974) for a crack in the neighborhood of a stiff inclusion.     

Cell‐based volume integration for boundary integral analysis

The evaluation of volume integrals that arise in boundary integral formulations for non‐homogeneous problems was considered. Using the “Galerkin vector” to represent the Green's function, the volume integral was decomposed into a boundary integral, together with a volume integral wherein the source function was everywhere zero on the boundary. This new volume integral can be evaluated using a regular grid of cells covering the domain, with all cell integrals, including partial cells at the boundary, evaluated by simple linear interpolation of vertex values. For grid vertices that lie close to the boundary, the near‐singular integrals were handled by partial analytic integration. The method employed a Galerkin approximation and was presented in terms of the three‐dimensional Poisson problem. An axisymmetric formulation was also presented, and in this setting, the solution of a nonlinear problem was considered. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A dual BIE approach for large‐scale modelling of 3‐D electrostatic problems with the fast multipole boundary element method

A dual boundary integral equation (BIE) formulation is presented for the analysis of general 3‐D electrostatic problems, especially those involving thin structures. This dual BIE formulation uses a linear combination of the conventional BIE and hypersingular BIE on the entire boundary of a problem domain. Similar to crack problems in elasticity, the conventional BIE degenerates when the field outside a thin body is investigated, such as the electrostatic field around a thin conducting plate. The dual BIE formulation, however, does not degenerate in such cases. Most importantly, the dual BIE is found to have better conditioning for the equations using the boundary element method (BEM) compared with the conventional BIE, even for domains with regular shapes. Thus the dual BIE is well suited for implementation with the fast multipole BEM. The fast multipole BEM for the dual BIE formulation is developed based on an adaptive fast multiple approach for the conventional BIE. Several examples are studied with the fast multipole BEM code, including finite and infinite domain problems, bulky and thin plate structures, and simplified comb‐drive models having more than 440 thin beams with the total number of equations above 1.45 million and solved on a PC. The numerical results clearly demonstrate that the dual BIE is very effective in solving general 3‐D electrostatic problems, as well as special cases involving thin perfect conducting structures, and that the adaptive fast multipole BEM with the dual BIE formulation is very efficient and promising in solving large‐scale electrostatic problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flux and traction boundary elements without hypersingular or strongly singular integrals

The present paper deals with a boundary element formulation based on the traction elasticity boundary integral equation (potential derivative for Laplace's problem). The hypersingular and strongly singular integrals appearing in the formulation are analytically transformed to yield line and surface integrals which are at most weakly singular. Regularization and analytical transformation of the boundary integrals is done prior to any boundary discretization. The integration process does not require any change of co‐ordinates and the resulting integrals can be numerically evaluated in a simple and efficient way. The formulation presented is completely general and valid for arbitrary shaped open or closed boundaries. Analytical expressions for all the required hypersingular or strongly singular integrals are given in the paper. To fulfil the continuity requirement over the primary density a simple BE discretization strategy is adopted. Continuous elements are used whereas the collocation points are shifted towards the interior of the elements. This paper pretends to contribute to the transformation of hypersingular boundary element formulations as something clear, general and easy to handle similar to in the classical formulation. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On higher order parameters in cracked composite plates under far‐field pure shear

This paper presents the analytical solution of the crack tip fields as well as the crack parameters in an infinitely large composite plate with a central crack subjected to pure shear loading. To this end, the complex variable method is employed to formulate an asymptotic solution for the crack tip fields in an anisotropic plane. Using a stress‐based definition of the crack tip modes of loading, only the mode II crack parameters are found to be non‐zero under pure shear load. Special focus is given to the determination of the higher order parameters of the crack tip asymptotic field, particularly the first non‐singular term, ie, the T‐stress. Unlike the isotropic materials, in which the T‐stress is zero under pure shear, it is found that the T‐stress is non‐zero for the case of anisotropic materials, being the only material‐dependent crack tip stress parameter. The veracity of our exact crack tip fields is assessed and verified through a comparison made with respect to the finite element (FE) solution. Finally, we demonstrate the significance of the T‐stress on stresses near the crack tip in composite plates under pure shear loads.     

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.     

The 3‐D elastodynamic boundary element method: semi‐analytical integration for linear isoparametric triangular elements

A semi‐analytical integration scheme is described in this paper which is designed to reduce the errors incurred when integrals with singular integrands are evaluated numerically. This new scheme can be applied to linear triangular elements for use in steady‐state elastodynamic BEM problems and is particularly useful for predicting displacement to high accuracy, close to surfaces for a spectrum of frequencies. The scheme involves the application of Taylor expansions to formulate the integrals into two parts. One part is regular and is evaluated numerically and the other part is singular but sufficiently simple to enable its transforma tion into a line integral. The line integral is solved numerically using Gauss–Legendre quadrature. This approach caters for all the integral types that appear in steady‐state elastodynamic boundary elements but, in particular, no special treatment is required for the evaluation of the Cauchy principal value singular integrals. Numerical tests are performed on a simple test‐problem for which a known analytical solution exists. The results obtained using the semi‐analytical approach are shown to be considerably more accurate than those obtained using standard quadrature methods. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2D SH modelling of ultrasonic testing for cracks near a non-planar surface

A model of 2D SH ultrasonic nondestructive testing for interior strip-like cracks near a non-planar back surface in a thick-walled elastic solid is presented. The model employs a Green's function to reformulate the 2D antiplane wave scattering problem as two coupled boundary integral equations (BIE): a displacement BIE for the back surface displacement and a hypersingular traction BIE for the crack opening displacement (COD). The integral equations are solved by performing a boundary element discretization of the back surface and expanding the COD in a series of Chebyshev functions which incorporate the correct behaviour at the crack edges. The transmitting ultrasonic probe is modelled by prescribing the traction underneath it, enabling the consequent calculation of the incident field. An electromechanical reciprocity relation is used to model the action of the receiving probe. A few numerical examples which illustrate the influence of the non-planar back surface are given.     

Dual boundary integral equation formulation in antiplane elasticity using complex variable

This paper investigates the dual boundary integral equation formulation in antiplane elasticity using complex variable. Four kinds of boundary integral equation (BIE) are studied, and they are the first complex variable BIE for the interior region, the second complex variable BIE for the interior region, the first complex variable BIE for the exterior region, and the second complex variable BIE for the exterior region. The first BIE for the interior region is derived from the Somigliana identity, or the Betti’s reciprocal theorem in elasticity. A displacement versus traction operator is suggested. After using this operator, the second BIE for the interior region is derived. Similar derivations are performed for the first and second BIEs for the exterior region. In the case of the exterior boundary, two degenerate boundary cases are studied. One is the curved crack case, and other is the case of a deformable line. All kernels in the suggested BIEs are expressed in terms of complex variable.     

Evaluation of supersingular integrals: second‐order boundary derivatives

The boundary integral representation of second‐order derivatives of the primary function involves second‐order (hypersingular) and third‐order (supersingular) derivatives of the Green's function. By defining these highly singular integrals as a difference of boundary limits, interior minus exterior, the limiting values are shown to exist. With a Galerkin formulation, coincident and edge‐adjacent supersingular integrals are separately divergent, but the sum is finite, while the individual hypersingular integrals are finite. Moreover, the cancellation of the supersingular divergent terms only requires a continuous interpolation of the surface potential, and there is no continuity requirement on the surface flux. The algorithm is efficient, the non‐singular integrals vanish and the singular integrals are computed entirely analytically, and accurate values are obtained for smooth surfaces. However, it is shown that a (continuous) linear interpolation is not appropriate for evaluation at boundary corners. Published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EVALUATION OF THE STRESS TENSOR IN 3-D ELASTOPLASTICITY BY DIRECT SOLVING OF HYPERSINGULAR INTEGRALS

A 3-D hypersingular Boundary Integral Equation (BIE) of elastoplasticity is derived. Using this formulation the displacement rate gradients and the complete stress tensor on the boundary can be evaluated directly as opposed to the classical approach, where the shape functions derivatives are to be calculated. The regularization of strongly singular and hypersingular boundary integrals, as well as strongly singular domain integrals for a source point positioned on the boundary is carried out in a general manner. Arbitrary types of elements and arbitrary positions of the source point with respect to continuity requirements can be used. Numerical 3-D elastoplastic examples (notch and crack problems) illustrate the advantages of the proposed method.