Electrical field evaluation around slender conductors by collocation boundary element method

In linear poroelasticity so far only collocation boundary element methods have been available. However, in some applications, e.g., when coupling with finite elements is desired, a symmetric formulation is preferable. Choosing a Galerkin approach which involves the second boundary integral equation, such a formulation is possible. Here, a previously presented integration by part technique for the regularization of the first boundary integral equation is extended to the second boundary integral equation as well. While the weakly singular representation of the double layer operator has been presented before, the emphasis lies here on the so called hyper‐singular boundary integral operator. Due to the regularization, this operator can be evaluated numerically and, hence, be used within a numerical scheme for the first time. Different numerical studies will be presented to show the behavior of the established symmetric Galerkin boundary element method, also comparing it with collocation boundary element methods. (© 2011 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

To solve boundary integral equations for potential problems using collocation Boundary Element Method (BEM) on smooth curved 3D geometries, an analytical singularity extraction technique is employed. By adopting the isoparametric approach, curved geometries that are represented by mapped rectangles or triangles from the parametric domain are considered. The singularity extraction on the governing singular integrals can be performed either as an operation of subtraction or division, each having some advantage.A particular series expansion of a singular kernel about a source point is investigated. The series in the parametric coordinates consists of functions of a type Rpxqyr, where R is a square root of a quadratic bivariate homogeneous polynomial with coefficients corresponding to the first fundamental form of a smooth surface, and p,q,r are integers, satisfying p≤−1 and q,r≥0. By extracting more terms from the series expansion of the singular kernel, the smoothness of the regularized kernel at the source point can be increased. Analytical formulae for integrals of such terms are obtained from antiderivatives of Rpxqyr, using recurrence formulae, and by evaluating them at the edges of rectangular or triangular parametric domains.Numerical tests demonstrate that the singularity extraction technique can be a useful prerequisite for a numerical quadrature scheme to obtain high order of convergence for the governing singular integrals in 3D collocation BEM with respect to the number of quadrature nodes or with respect to size of the discretization mesh cells.

The consistent boundary element method for potential and elasticity: Part II — machine-precision numerical evaluations for 2D problems

In this paper, we extend the SABO technique (Semi-Analytical method for Barrier Options), based on collocation Boundary Element Method (BEM), to the pricing of Barrier Options with payoff dependent on more than one asset. The efficiency and accuracy already revealed in the case of a single asset is confirmed by the presented numerical results.

Electromagnetic Environment Associated with Lightning Strikes to Tall Strike Objects

Solutions of 2D and 3D non-homogeneous potential problems by using a boundary element-collocation method

A modular program for Poisson's equation with linear boundary and domain elements

Poroelasticity is concerned with heterogeneous media consisting of an elastic solid skeleton saturated by a diffusing pore fluid. Its range of application covers a variety of important real-life problems, such as design of nuclear reactor cores, exploitation of oil or gas deposits, simulation of living bone behaviour for orthopedical surgery, control of filtration leakage from reservoirs, and manufacturing process design for composite materials. Poroelasticity is now the subject of a fairly abundant literature, stemming from Terzaghi’s concept of effective stress and Biot’s linear consolidation theory. From a computational mechanics point of view, poroelastic analysis has been conducted using either the finite element method or the traditional (collocation) boundary element method [1–3].

In electrocardiographic imaging, epicardial potentials are reconstructed computationally from electrocardiographic measurements. The reconstruction is typically done with the help of the boundary element method (BEM), using the point collocation weighting and constant or linear basis functions. In this paper, we evaluated the performance of constant and linear point collocation and Galerkin BEMs in the epicardial potential problem. The integral equations and discretizations were formulated in terms of the single- and double-layer operators. All inner element integrals were calculated analytically. The computational methods were validated against analytical solutions in a simplified geometry. On the basis of the validation, no method was optimal in all testing scenarios. In the forward computation of the epicardial potential, the linear Galerkin (LG) method produced the smallest errors. The LG method also produced the smallest discretization error on the epicardial surface. In the inverse computation of epicardial potential, the electrode-specific transfer matrix performed better than the full transfer matrix. The Tikhonov 2 regularization outperformed the Tikhonov 0. In the optimal modeling conditions, the best BEM technique depended on electrode positions and chosen error measure. When large modeling errors such as omission of the lungs were present, the choice of the basis and weighting functions was not significant.

An electromagnetism module is under development in the commercial software LS-DYNA in order to perform coupled mechanical/thermal/electromagnetic simulations. The main part of the module is a so-called eddy current solver. This module allows us to introduce source electrical currents into solid conductors, and to compute the associated magnetic fields, electric fields, induced currents, Lorentz forces, Joule heating and so forth. The Maxwell equations are solved using a Finite Element Method (FEM) for the solid conductors coupled with a Boundary Element Method (BEM) for the surrounding air (or insulators). Both the FEM and the BEM are based on discrete differential forms (Nedelec-like elements). The use of the BEM for the air allows to handle complex 3D geometries with multiply connected conductors, very small air gaps, and motion of the conductors, due, in particular, to the electromagnetic forces. The variable of the BEM is a so-called surface current allowing the connection of the model to external current sources by simple dirichlet constraints, as well as direct computations of the self and mutual inductances of the system. In order to handle the large and dense BEM matrices, a domain decomposition is performed and low rank approximations are done on the off-diagonal blocks of the resulting block matrices. The diagonal blocks are used as an efficient preconditioner when solving the BEM part of the system. The singularities arising in the computation of the self and neighbor matrix elements of the Galerkin BEM are taken into account using a method based on Duffy transforms. The BEM method will be presented as well as benchmarks and real life application examples.

BackgroundThe aim of electroencephalogram (EEG) source localization is to find the brain areas responsible for EEG waves of interest. It consists of solving forward and inverse problems. The forward problem is solved by starting from a given electrical source and calculating the potentials at the electrodes. These evaluations are necessary to solve the inverse problem which is defined as finding brain sources which are responsible for the measured potentials at the EEG electrodes.MethodsWhile other reviews give an extensive summary of the both forward and inverse problem, this review article focuses on different aspects of solving the forward problem and it is intended for newcomers in this research field.ResultsIt starts with focusing on the generators of the EEG: the post-synaptic potentials in the apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons. These cells generate an extracellular current which can be modeled by Poisson's differential equation, and Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions. The compartments in which these currents flow can be anisotropic (e.g. skull and white matter). In a three-shell spherical head model an analytical expression exists to solve the forward problem. During the last two decades researchers have tried to solve Poisson's equation in a realistically shaped head model obtained from 3D medical images, which requires numerical methods. The following methods are compared with each other: the boundary element method (BEM), the finite element method (FEM) and the finite difference method (FDM). In the last two methods anisotropic conducting compartments can conveniently be introduced. Then the focus will be set on the use of reciprocity in EEG source localization. It is introduced to speed up the forward calculations which are here performed for each electrode position rather than for each dipole position. Solving Poisson's equation utilizing FEM and FDM corresponds to solving a large sparse linear system. Iterative methods are required to solve these sparse linear systems. The following iterative methods are discussed: successive over-relaxation, conjugate gradients method and algebraic multigrid method.ConclusionSolving the forward problem has been well documented in the past decades. In the past simplified spherical head models are used, whereas nowadays a combination of imaging modalities are used to accurately describe the geometry of the head model. Efforts have been done on realistically describing the shape of the head model, as well as the heterogenity of the tissue types and realistically determining the conductivity. However, the determination and validation of the in vivo conductivity values is still an important topic in this field. In addition, more studies have to be done on the influence of all the parameters of the head model and of the numerical techniques on the solution of the forward problem.

A numerical study of 2D electrothermal flow using boundary element method

Chapter Three - The BEM for Potential Problems in Two Dimensions

Summary form only given. In many high current pulsed power systems much, if not all, of the energy is inductive or magnetic rather than electric and the electric fields are dominantly inductive rather than electrostatic. That is, in the usual expression for generalized electric field, E=-grad(V)-dA /dt, V is the scalar potential that gives rise to the electrostatic field, and A is the magnetic vector potential, from which the inductive field is derived. In problems where there are regions without voltage sources or charge separation, the electrostatic component does not exist, and the usual technique of solving the scalar Laplace's equation for the potential is inappropriate for determining the electric fields. Calculation of the magnetic vector potential is plagued by choice of gauge condition and specification of correct boundary conditions. Especially for coaxial (axisymmetric) systems typical of many pulsed power components and systems, where the current flow is in the (r,z) plane, there are two components of the vector potential that must be solved-each with its own boundary conditions. Specification of all the correct boundary conditions is non-trivial. In this paper, we present a convenient technique for the calculation of inductive electric fields in coaxial systems. The technique is based on the introduction of a vector electric potential that is derived from Poisson's equation, in combination with Faraday's Law and the E-D constitutive relation. In coaxial geometry, the electric vector potential is only azimuthal and, therefore, quasi-scalar. It is conveniently calculated with any two-dimensional Poisson equation solver, and the resultant inductive field distribution easily derived. We have used the technique in several pulsed power system designs with success. Specific examples of the application of the technique are given.

P 211. Efficient method for computing the TMS-induced electric field in spherically symmetric head models, the triangle Construction