The Collocation Method for First-Kind Boundary Integral Equations on Polygonal Regions

A modified Nyström method for integral equations with Mellin type kernels

The principles and development of the boundary integral equation (BIE) method for solving engineering problems are reviewed, with particular emphasis on applications in three-dimensional stress analysis. Its use in problems of this type is illustrated with the aid of three examples, one a classical stress concentration problem, the other two involving cracked components. Compared with a finite-element method, the BIE approach is shown to be capable of being both more accurate and more economical to use in terms of competing resources required and the cost of data preparation. These advantages may, however, be less clear-cut when predictions of stresses and displacements at a large number of points within a component are required, or when the component concerned has a relatively high surface-to-volume ratio.

Acoustic wave scattering by scatterers in layered media is studied using a new method that combines the hybrid ray–mode and boundary integral equation methods. The latter is used to formulate the scattering process and the former is used to provide the Green’s function of the layered environment. Following standard procedures of the boundary integral equation method, integral equations are formulated first for field distributions along the boundaries of the obstacles. By expressing these unknown distributions in terms of appropriate basis functions, the integral equations are then reduced to algebraic equations that are solved numerically. In the integral equations, it is necessary to compute the Green’s function of the layered environment for various arrangements of locations of source and receiver. None of these conventional approaches (rays, modes, and spectral integration) to evaluate the Green’s function are satisfactory for all possible arrangements. Only the newly developed hybrid ray–mode method is best suited for this purpose because it combines rays and modes self-consistently within a single framework and optimizes the advantages of each. Numerical implementation illustrates these aspects.

A quantative comparison between the boundary integral equation (BIE) method and the finite difference (FD) method is presented in which each technique is applied to an elliptic boundary‐value problem (BVP) containing a boundary singularity. Two types of singularity have previously been analysed theoretically, namely those due to a discontinuous boundary potential, which we shall refer to as S1, and those due to a sudden change from the specification of boundary potential flux, an S2 singularity. In this paper the analysis is presented for a third type of boundary singularity, namely an S3 singularity: that arising from a discontinuous boundary flux. Such a condition is frequently encountered in the field of heat transfer where, for example, a system or pipe has a change of lagging material.In general, it is found that the BIE method is superior, with regards to the computational time required to achieve a certain degree of accuracy, over standard FD methods even when there is a boundary singularity. Further, the BIE method determines the solution near the singularity much more accurately than the FD method. The FD method does, however, have advantages for a very restrictive class of problems; for example, when the boundary conditions are of the Dirichlet type and the boundary geometry is rectangular. In this case an optimum relaxation parameter can easily be obtained. A soon as Neumann conditions are prescribed, the BIE is far more efficient than the FD, whatever the boundary geometry.It is concluded that, for fast, accurate solutions of general Laplacian boundary‐value problems, the BIE is appreciably superior to the FD and this is even more pronounced when there is a boundary singularity.

One popular approach to solve the sea surface scattering and propagation in a ducting environment is the parabolic wave equation (PWE) method. An alternative method is the boundary integral equations (BIE) method. The implementation of the BIE in inhomogeneous media (ducting environments) is not straightforward, however, since the Green's function for such a medium is not usually known. In this paper, a closed-form approximation of the Green's function for a two-dimensional (2-D) ducting environment made up of a duct having a linear-square refractive index profile below a medium of constant refractive index, recently published, is used. This paper demonstrates how the BIE method can model the combined effects of surface roughness and medium inhomogeneity. Furthermore, it illustrates its capability of accurately predicting scattering in all directions including backscattering. Then, the PWE combined with the Split-Step Fourier (SSF) method is compared with this method.

A Petrov-Galerkin finite element method using polyfractonomials to solve stochastic fractional differential equations

Qualocation

On solving external boundary value problems of the theory of elasticity using the method of boundary integral equations

We study a modification of the qualocation method for boundary integral equations on smooth curves, which allows the same high-order convergence as the original qualocation method but with reduced smoothness assumptions on the exact solution. This ‘tolerant qualocation’ method differs from the original one only in that the exact inner product is used on the righthand side of the qualocation equation, whereas in the original method a specially designed approximate inner product is used on both sides. The modified method achieves exactly the same error estimates as the Petrov-Galerkin method, at greatly reduced cost.

The method of boundary integral equations for designing high-frequency resonators

Mathematical modeling of dynamic problems of continuum mechanics in domains of complicated geometry for various types of boundary conditions usually leads to boundary value problems for hyperbolic systems. The method of boundary integral equations is a convenient tool for solving such problems; it allows one to reduce the original differential boundary value problem in a domain to a system of boundary integral equations on the boundary, thus reducing the dimension of the equations, improving the stability of numerical solution methods, and so on. Now this method is widely used for a large class of problems in mechanics and mathematical physics. The construction of fundamental solutions and kernels of boundary integral equations of the system is a key point of the method of boundary integral equations. The fundamental solutions of classical equations of elliptic and hyperbolic types have been studied quite comprehensively [1, 2]. Less is known about fundamental solutions of systems of partial differential equations. Related papers mainly deal with specific equations of continuum mechanics [3–7]. In the present paper, we consider strictly hyperbolic systems of M equations with second-order derivatives in an (N + 1)-dimensional space. For such systems, we construct the Green matrix and analyze its properties. We also study systems invariant under the orthogonal group.

The integral equations encountered in boundary element methods are frequently solved numerically using collocation with spline trial functions. Convergence proofs and error estimates for these approximation methods have been only available in the following cases: Fredholm integral equations of the second kind [4], [7], one-dimensional pseudodifferential equations and singular integral equations with piecewise smooth coefficients on smooth curves [2], [3], [17], [26]—[29], and some special results on the classical Neumann integral equation of potential theory for polygonal plane domains [5], [8], [9]. Here we give convergence proofs for collocation with piecewise linear trial functions for Neumann’s integral equation and Symm’s integral equation on plane curves with corners. We derive asymptotic error estimates in Sobolev norms and analyze the effect of graded meshes.

Application of the boundary integral equation (BIE) method to transient response analysis of inclusions in a half space

The superconvergence of a Galerkin collocation method for first kind boundary integral equations on smooth curves

New boundary integral equation method which was previously proposed have been examined in detail and extended to the computer‐aided design (CAD) of asymmetrical dielectric slab waveguide bends. Many numerical results of symmetric waveguide discontinuities and asymmetric waveguide bends confirm the validity of the new method. They show that all numerical results satisfy the energy conservation law within an accuracy of 1% and indicate that the new integral equation method is very suitable for the basic theory or a solver of CAD software for various open dielectric waveguide circuits.