Non-convex self-dual Lagrangians: New variational principles of symmetric boundary value problems

We study the concept and the calculus of Non-convex self-dual (Nc-SD) Lagrangians and their derived vector fields which are associated to many partial differential equations and evolution systems. They indeed provide new representations and formulations for the superposition of convex functions and symmetric operators. They yield new variational resolutions for large class of Hamiltonian partial differential equations with variety of linear and nonlinear boundary conditions including many of the standard ones. This approach seems to offer several useful advantages: It associates to a boundary value problem several potential functions which can often be used with relative ease compared to other methods such as the use of Euler-Lagrange functions. These potential functions are quite flexible, and can be adapted to easily deal with both nonlinear and homogeneous boundary value problems. Additionally, in most cases the solutions generated using this new method have greater regularity than the solutions obtained using the standard Euler-Lagrange function. Perhaps most remarkable, however, are the permanence properties of Nc-SD Lagrangians; their calculus is relatively manageable, and their applications are quite broad.     

On the use of potential fields in fluid mechanics

In classical fluid mechanics, potential fields have been employed to enable the integration of the equations of motion. As is well known, Bernoulli's equation is obtained as a first integral of Euler's equations in the absence of vorticity and viscosity if the velocity vector is perceived as the gradient of a scalar potential. The so-called Clebsch transformation [1] involving three scalar potentials allows for a further extension to flows with non-vanishing vorticity; the resulting equations turn out to be self-adjoint, allowing for a variational formulation. All attempts in classic literature, however, are restricted to inviscid flows and the finding of a potential representation enabling the integration of the Navier-Stokes equations remains desirable. Progress on this topic was reported by [3, 4] who constructed a first integral of the two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations by making use of an auxiliary potential field and a representation of the fields in terms of complex coordinates. The new formulation proved to be useful in numerical applications and moreover, replacing the scalar potential by a tensor potential, the theory can be successfully generalised to encompass three-dimensional Navier-Stokes flow. Related to the first integral a finite element method was presented in [2] based on a formulation involving the velocities and the first order derivatives of the introduced potential. This way the dynamic boundary condition could be incorporated elegantly and the system of equations fitted into the first order system least-squares methodology. However, a promising alternative approach results if one considers the streamfunction and a slightly modified potential field as independent variables. This new approach involves Laplacian operators rather than mixed derivatives and allows for a convenient embodiment of the Neumann conditions on the streamfunction that is in contrast to the original stream function / potential formulation [4]. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Vorticity‐velocity formulations of the Stokes problem in 3D

This work studies the three‐dimensional Stokes problem expressed in terms of vorticity and velocity variables. We make general assumptions on the regularity and the topological structure of the flow domain: the boundary is Lipschitz and possibly non‐connected and the flow domain may be multiply connected. Upon introducing a new variational space for the vorticity, five weak formulations of the Stokes problem are obtained. All the formulations are shown to lead to well‐posed problems and to be equivalent to the primitive variable formulation. The various formulations are discussed by interpreting the test functions for the vorticity (resp. velocity) equation as vector potentials for the velocity (resp. vorticity). Of the five sets of boundary conditions derived in the paper, three are already known, but only for domains with a trivial topological structure, while the remaining two are new. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mixed and hybrid formulations for the three‐dimensional magnetostatic problem

We propose mixed and hybrid formulations for the three‐dimensional magnetostatic problem. Such formulations are obtained by coupling finite element method inside the magnetic materials with a boundary element method. We present a formulation where the magnetic field is the state variable and the boundary approach uses a scalar Dirichlet‐Neumann map to describe the exterior domain. Also, we propose a second formulation where the magnetic induction is the state variable and a vectorial Dirichlet‐Neumann map is used to describe the outer field. Numerical discretizations with “edge” and “face” elements are proposed, and for each discrete problem we study an “inf‐sup” condition. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 85–104, 2002     

Two perturbation formulations of the nonlinear dynamics of a cable excited by a boundary motion

A nonlinear cable excited by an inclined boundary motion, termed as cable's moving boundary problem, is attacked by two different perturbation approaches, i.e., the boundary modulation formulation and the quasi-static drift formulation. The former transforms the boundary motion into a weak modulation on cable's high-order dynamics, while the latter introduces a hybrid mode expansion using an empirical drift shape function. In both formulations, the inclined boundary motion induces three different excitation effects, i.e., longitudinal direct, vertical boundary kinematic, and high-order parametric, all of which being characterized by the parametric modulation factors. Detailed comparative studies indicate that the modulation factors in the two formulations are exactly equivalent to each other only if a new drift shape function, well defined in the boundary modulation formulation, is used for the quasi-static drift formulation. In contrast, the empirical shape functions lead only to an approximate equivalence for intermediate/large boundary motion inclinations. Moreover, for small inclinations, the two formulations induce possible quantitative and qualitative differences. The approximate analytical framework is validated and shown to be computationally efficient, by comparison with the finite difference method.     

On a boundary variational inequality of the second kind modelling a friction problem

A scalar contact problem with friction governed by the Yukawa equation is reduced to a boundary variational inequality. The presence of the non‐differentiable friction functional causes some difficulties when approximated. We present two methods to overcome this difficulty. The first one is a regularization leading to a non‐linear boundary variational equation, for which we propose an iterative procedure, whereas the second method is based on the boundary mixed variational formulation involving Lagrange multipliers. We propose Uzawa's algorithm to compute the saddle point of the corresponding boundary Lagrangian and investigate the discretization of various formulations by the boundary element Galerkin method. Convergence of the boundary element solution is proved and a convergence order is obtained. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boundary integral equation formulation for generalized thermoelastic diffusion – Analytical aspects

The present work deals with the formulation of the boundary integral equations for the solution of equations under linear theory of generalized thermoelastic diffusion in a three-dimensional Euclidean space. A mixed initial-boundary value problem is considered in the present context and the fundamental solutions of the corresponding coupled differential equations are obtained in the Laplace transform domain by employing the treatment of scalar and vector potential theory. A reciprocal relation of Betti type is established. Then we formulate the boundary integral equations for generalized thermoelastic diffusion on the basis of these fundamental solutions and the reciprocal relation.     

The Decoupled Potential Integral Equation for Time‐Harmonic Electromagnetic Scattering

We present a new formulation for the problem of electromagnetic scattering from perfect electric conductors. While our representation for the electric and magnetic fields is based on the standard vector and scalar potentials A ,φ in the Lorenz gauge, we establish boundary conditions on the potentials themselves rather than on the field quantities. This permits the development of a well‐conditioned second‐kind Fredholm integral equation that has no spurious resonances, avoids low‐frequency breakdown, and is insensitive to the genus of the scatterer. The equations for the vector and scalar potentials are decoupled. That is, the unknown scalar potential defining the scattered field, φ^scat, is determined entirely by the incident scalar potential φ^inc. Likewise, the unknown vector potential defining the scattered field, A ^scat is determined entirely by the incident vector potential A^inc. This decoupled formulation is valid not only in the static limit but for arbitrary ω ≥ 0$. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

New estimates of the stability of one-dimensional plane-parallel flows of a viscous incompressible fluid

The stability of a number of one-dimensional plane-parallel steady flows of a viscous incompressible fluid is investigated analytically using the method of integral relations. The mathematical formulation is reduced to eigenvalue problems for the Orr–Sommerfeld equation. One of three versions is chosen as the boundary conditions: all the components of the velocity perturbation are equal to zero on both boundaries of the layer (in this case we have the classical Orr–Sommerfeld problem), all the components of the velocity perturbation on one of the boundaries are equal to zero and the perturbations of the shear component of the stress vector and of the normal component of the velocity are equal to zero on the other, and all the components of the velocity perturbation are equal to zero on one boundary and the other boundary should be free. The boundary conditions derived in the latter case, are characterized by the occurrence of a spectral parameter in them. For kinematic conditions the lower estimates of the critical Reynolds number – the Joseph–Yih estimates, are improved. In the remaining cases the technique of the integral-relations method is developed, leading to new estimates of the stability. Analogs of Squire's theorem are derived for the boundary conditions of all the types mentioned above. Upper estimates of the increment of the increase in perturbations in eigenvalue problems for the Rayleigh equation with two types of boundary conditions are given.     

A boundary only procedure for time-dependent diffusion equations

In the recent literature, the boundary element method (BEM) is extensively used to solve time-dependent partial differential equations. However, most of these formulations yield algorithms where one has to include all interior points in the computation process if finite difference procedures are used to approximate the temporal derivative. This obviously restricts the advantages of the BEM, which is mainly considered to be a boundary only algorithm for time-independent problems. A new algorithm is demonstrated here, which extends the boundary only nature of the method to time-dependent partial differential equations. Using this procedure, one can reduce the finite difference time integration algorithm, generated in a standard manner, to a boundary only process. The proposed method is demonstrated with considerable success for diffusion problems. Results obtained in these applications are presented comparatively with analytical and other boundary element time integration procedures. The algorithm proposed may utilize several coordinate functions in the secondary reduction phase of the formulation. A summary of such functions is described here and performances of these functions are tested and compared in three applications. It is shown that some coordinate functions perform better than others under certain conditions. Using these results, we propose a general coordinate function, which may be used with satisfactory results in all parabolic partial differential equation applications.     

Comparison of light transport models based on finite element and the discrete ordinates methods in view of optical tomography applications

Numerical tests are used to evaluate the accuracy of two finite element formulations associated with the discrete ordinates method for solving the radiative transfer equation: the Least Square and the Discontinuous Galerkin finite element formulations. The results show that the use of a penalization method to set the Dirichlet boundary conditions leads to a more accurate solution than the weakly type setting where the Least Square method is seen to be more sensitive. Convergence in mesh size shows that, while both methods give accurate results, the Discontinuous Galerkin formulation uses five times more degrees of freedom than the Least Square formulation, which may lead to large systems to handle when the number of mesh elements is large. The comparison of both methods using the S_n and the T_n angular quadratures has shown that the Discontinuous Galerkin gives more accurate solutions, as expected, for problems with strong discontinuities, but may exhibit some oscillations due to the Galerkin procedure. A last test featuring a collimated irradiation shows that both methods give the same accuracy due to the separation of the radiative intensity into transmitted and scattered components, which removes the discontinuities in the implementation of the boundary conditions.     

A complementary theory of light scattering by homogeneous spheres

A theory of the scattering of electromagnetic waves by homogeneous spheres, the so-called Mie theory, is presented in a unique and coherent manner in this paper. We begin with Maxwell's equations, from which the vector wave equations are derived and solved by means of the two orthogonal solutions to the scalar wave equation. The transverse incident electric field is mapped in spherical coordinates and expanded in known mathematical functions satisfying the scalar wave equation. Determination of the unknown coefficients in the scattered and internal fields is achieved by matching the electromagnetic boundary conditions on the surface of a sphere. Far-field solutions for the electric field are then given in terms of the scattering functions. Transformation of the electric field to the reference plane containing incident and scattered waves is carried out. Extinction parameters and the phase matrix are derived from the electric field perpendicular and parallel to the reference plane. On the basis of the independent-scattering assumption, the theory is extended to cases involving a sample of homogeneous spheres.     

Accurate stress analysis of sandwich panels by the differential quadrature method

Sandwich structures are widely used in many engineering fields. It is possible but not easy for an engineering theory to recover all stresses accurately. In this paper, a modeling strategy is proposed to simplify the formulation. A classical sandwich panel is firstly divided into three parts, equations of the top and bottom face sheets are used as the boundary conditions of the two-dimensional core and then only the core needs to be analyzed by the differential quadrature method (DQM). In this way, both displacement and stress can be accurately obtained. Detailed formulations are worked out. Three boundary conditions and three types of loading, including the concentrated load regarded as a challenging problem for point discrete methods such as the DQM, are considered to investigate the effect of boundary conditions and loading on the distributions of displacement and stress. For verification, results are compared with theoretical solutions or/and numerical data. Presented data may be a reference for other investigators to develop more accurate engineering beam theory or new numerical method.     

A general solution of equations of equilibrium in linear elasticity

A general solution of equations of equilibrium in linear elasticity is presented in cylindrical coordinates in terms of three harmonic functions describing an arbitrary displacement field. The structure of this solution is similar to the general solution given by Love (Kelvin’s solution) in spherical coordinates. Galerkin vector representation of our solution leads to an integral connecting the harmonic functions. The connections to Papkovich–Neuber and Muki’s general representations are also provided. Suitable choices of the harmonic functions in our new representation yield general solutions for axisymmetric deformations due to Love, Boussinesq and Michell. Some unbounded deformations induced by singular forces are tabulated in terms of the scalar harmonic functions to justify the simple nature of our representation. Exact solution of the half-space boundary value problem is also provided to demonstrate the power of our approach. The stress components computed via our solution are also listed (see the Appendix).     

Symmetric coupling of finite and boundary elements for exterior magnetic field problems

We consider a coupled finite element (fe)–boundary element (be) approach for three‐dimensional magnetic field problems. The formulation is based on a vector potential in a bounded domain (fe) and a scalar potential in an unbounded domain (be). We describe a coupled variational problem yielding a unique solution where the constraints in the trial spaces are replaced by appropriate side conditions. Then we discuss a Galerkin discretization of the coupled problem and prove a quasi‐optimal error estimate. Finally we discuss an efficient preconditioned iterative solution strategy for the resulting linear system. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hybrid boundary element formulation for acoustic wave propagation

The so‐called hybrid stress boundary element method (HSBEM) is introduced in a frequency domain formulation for the computation of acoustic radiation and scattering in closed and in finite domains. Different from other boundary element formulations, the HSBEM is based on an extended Hellinger‐Reissner variational principle and leads to a Hermitian, frequency‐dependent stiffness equation. Due to this, the method is very well suited for treating fluid structure interaction problems since the effort for the coupling the structure, discretized by a finite elements, and the fluid, discretized by the HSBEM is strongly reduced. To arrive at a boundary integral formulation, the field variables are separated into boundary variables, which are approximated by piecewise polynomial functions, and domain variables, which are approximated by a superposition of singular fundamental solutions weighed by source strength. This approximation cancels the domain integral over the equation of motion in the hybrid principle and leads to a boundary integral formulation, incorporating singular integrals. Comparing to previous results published by the authors, new considerations concerning the interpretation of singular contributions in the stiffness matrix for exterior domain problems are communicated here.     

Adapted kussmaul formulation of acoustic scattering problems: an overview

Problems of exterior acoustic scattering may be conveniently formulated by means of boundary integral equations. The problem seeks to find a wave function which gives velocity potential profile, pressure density profile, etc. of the acoustic wave at points in space. At the background of the formulations are two theories viz. (Helmholtz) Potential theory and the Green's representation formula. Potential theory gives rise to the so-called indirect formulation and the Green's representation formula to the direct formulations. Classical boundary integral formulations fail at the eigenfrequencies of the interior domain. That is, if a solution is sought of the exterior problem by first solving a homogeneous boundary integral equation, one is inevitably led to the conclusion that these homogeneous boundary equations have nontrivial solutions at certain wave-numbers which are the eigenvalues of the corresponding interior problem. At lower wave-numbers, these eigenfrequencies are thinly distributed but the higher the wave-number, the denser it becomes. This is a well-known drawback for both time-harmonic acoustics and elastodynamics. This is not a physical difficulty but arises entirely as a result of a deficiency in the integral equation is representation. Why then use It? The use has many advantages notably in that the meshing region is reduced from the infinite domain exterior to the body to its finite surface. This created the need for some robust formulations. A proof of the Kussmaul [1] formulation is presented. The formulation has a hypersingular kernel in the integral operator, which creates a havoc in computation (e.g., ill conditioning). The hyper-singularity can be avoided [2], as a result a new formulation is proposed. This paper presents a broad overview of the Adapted Kussmaul Formulation (AKF).     

脉冲向量时滞抛物型方程的H-振动性

研究一类脉冲向量时滞抛物型偏微分方程的振动性,借助Domslak引进的H-振动的概念及内积降维的方法,将多维振动问题化为一维脉冲时滞微分不等式不存在最终正解的问题,建立了该类方程在Robin边值条件下所有解H-振动的若干充分条件,这里H是RM中的单位向量.     

Kinetic formulation for the Graetz-Nusselt ultra-parabolic equation

The well-posedness of the Cauchy problems for a quasilinear ultra-parabolic equation with partial diffusion and discontinuous convection coefficients is established for both entropy and kinetic formulations. The kinetic formulation is set up and solved by means of studying of the Young measures, associated with sequences of solutions of parabolic approximations. The kinetic equation appears as the linear scalar equation, which describes the evolution of the distribution functions of the Young measures in time and space, and which involves an additional ‘kinetic’ variable. The proofs of the principal results of the paper are based on the originally constructed renormalization procedure for the kinetic equation.     

Periodic and boundary value problems for second order differential equations

In this paper we study second order scalar differential equations with Sturm-Liouville and periodic boundary conditions. The vector fieldf(t,x,y) is Caratheodory and in some instances the continuity condition onx ory is replaced by a monotonicity type hypothesis. Using the method of upper and lower solutions as well as truncation and penalization techniques, we show the existence of solutions and extremal solutions in the order interval determined by the upper and lower solutions. Also we establish some properties of the solutions and of the set they form.