Semi-analytic treatment of the three-dimensional Poisson equation via a Galerkin BIE method

A systematic treatment of the three-dimensional Poisson equation via singular and hypersingular boundary integral equation techniques is investigated in the context of a Galerkin approximation. Developed to conveniently deal with domain integrals without a volume-fitted mesh, the proposed method initially converts domain integrals featuring the Newton potential and its gradient into equivalent surface integrals. Then, the resulting boundary integrals are evaluated by means of well-established cubature methods. In this transformation, weakly-singular domain integrals, defined over simply- or multiply-connected domains with Lipschitz boundaries, are rigorously converted into weakly-singular surface integrals. Combined with the semi-analytic integration approach developed for potential problems to accurately calculate singular and hypersingular Galerkin surface integrals, this technique can be employed to effectively deal with mixed boundary-value problems without the need to partition the underlying domain into volume cells. Sample problems are included to validate the proposed approach.     

Semi-analytic integration of hypersingular Galerkin BIEs for three-dimensional potential problems

An accurate and efficient semi-analytic integration technique is developed for three-dimensional hypersingular boundary integral equations of potential theory. Investigated in the context of a Galerkin approach, surface integrals are defined as limits to the boundary and linear surface elements are employed to approximate the geometry and field variables on the boundary. In the inner integration procedure, all singular and non-singular integrals over a triangular boundary element are expressed exactly as analytic formulae over the edges of the integration triangle. In the outer integration scheme, closed-form expressions are obtained for the coincident case, wherein the divergent terms are identified explicitly and are shown to cancel with corresponding terms from the edge-adjacent case. The remaining surface integrals, containing only weak singularities, are carried out successfully by use of standard numerical cubatures. Sample problems are included to illustrate the performance and validity of the proposed algorithm.     

A Burton-Miller boundary element-free method for Helmholtz problems

A Burton-Miller boundary element-free method is developed by using the Burton-Miller formulation for meshless and boundary-only analysis of Helmholtz problems. The method can produce a unique solution at all wavenumbers and is valid for Dirichlet, Neumann and mixed problems simultaneously. An efficient numerical integration procedure is presented to handle both strongly singular and hypersingular boundary integrals directly and uniformly. Numerical results reveal that this direct meshless method only involves boundary nodes and can deal with Helmholtz problems at extremely large wavenumbers.     

位势问题边界元法中几乎奇异积分的正则化

将一种通用算法应用于平面位势问题边界元法中近边界点几乎奇异积分的正则化。对线性单元,位势问题近边界点的几乎强和超奇异积分可归纳为两种形式。通过分部积分,将引起奇异的积分元素变换到积分号之外,从而对这两种积分分别给出了无奇异的正则化计算公式。除了线性元,二次元也应用于该算法。与近边界点临近的二次单元划分为两段线性单元,该算法仍然适用。算例证明了方法的有效性和精确性。对曲线边界问题,联合二次元和线性元可提高计算结果精确度。     

BEM with linear complexity for the classical boundary integral operators

Alternative representations of boundary integral operators corresponding to elliptic boundary value problems are developed as a starting point for numerical approximations as, e.g., Galerkin boundary elements including numerical quadrature and panel-clustering. These representations have the advantage that the integrands of the integral operators have a reduced singular behaviour allowing one to choose the order of the numerical approximations much lower than for the classical formulations. Low-order discretisations for the single layer integral equations as well as for the classical double layer potential and the hypersingular integral equation are considered. We will present fully discrete Galerkin boundary element methods where the storage amount and the CPU time grow only linearly with respect to the number of unknowns.

     

Effective semi-analytic integration for hypersingular Galerkin boundary integral equations for the Helmholtz equation in 3D

We deal with the Galerkin discretization of the boundary integral equations corresponding to problems with the Helmholtz equation in 3D. Our main result is the semi-analytic integration for the bilinear form induced by the hypersingular operator. Such computations have already been proposed for the bilinear forms induced by the single-layer and the double-layer potential operators in the monograph The Fast Solution of Boundary Integral Equations by O. Steinbach and S. Rjasanow and we base our computations on these results.     

Transformation of hypersingular integrals and black-box cubature

In this paper, we will consider hypersingular integrals as they arise by transforming elliptic boundary value problems into boundary integral equations. First, local representations of these integrals will be derived. These representations contain so-called finite-part integrals. In the second step, these integrals are reformulated as improper integrals. We will show that these integrals can be treated by cubature methods for weakly singular integrals as they exist in the literature.

     

Hybrid Galerkin boundary elements: theory and implementation

Summary. In this paper we present a new quadrature method for computing Galerkin stiffness matrices arising from the discretisation of 3D boundary integral equations using continuous piecewise linear boundary elements. This rule takes as points some subset of the nodes of the mesh and can be used for computing non-singular Galerkin integrals corresponding to pairs of basis functions with non-intersecting supports. When this new rule is combined with standard methods for the singular Galerkin integrals we obtain a “hybrid” Galerkin method which has the same stability and asymptotic convergence properties as the true Galerkin method but a complexity more akin to that of a collocation or Nystr?m method. The method can be applied to a wide range of singular and weakly-singular first- and second-kind equations, including many for which the classical Nystr?m method is not even defined. The results apply to equations on piecewise-smooth Lipschitz boundaries, and to non-quasiuniform (but shape-regular) meshes. A by-product of the analysis is a stability theory for quadrature rules of precision 1 and 2 based on arbitrary points in the plane. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the new method realises the performance expected from the theory. Received January 22, 1998 / Revised version received May 26, 1999 / Published online April 20, 2000 –? Springer-Verlag 2000     

Boundary element-free methods for exterior acoustic problems with arbitrary and high wavenumbers

This paper proposes the boundary element-free method (BEFM) for the numerical solution of exterior acoustic problems with arbitrary and high wavenumbers. A single layer BEFM and a double layer BEFM are developed by using acoustic single and double layer potentials to represent the solution, respectively. To eliminate the non-uniqueness drawback, an improved combined field integral equation is derived free of strongly singular and hypersingular integrals, and then a combined field BEFM is also developed for enhancing the solution accuracy, particularly in the neighborhood of the characteristic wavenumber. Compared with the original BEFM, boundary conditions in the proposed three BEFMs are implemented accurately and easily by using density functions. Numerical examples involving single and multiple objects show that the proposed methods offer reliable and efficient numerical solutions to exterior acoustic problems with arbitrary and high wavenumbers.     

Integration of singular Galerkin-type boundary element integrals for 3D elasticity problems

Summary. A Galerkin approximation of both strongly and hypersingular boundary integral equation (BIE) is considered for the solution of a mixed boundary value problem in 3D elasticity leading to a symmetric system of linear equations. The evaluation of Cauchy principal values (v. p.) and finite parts (p. f.) of double integrals is one of the most difficult parts within the implementation of such boundary element methods (BEMs). A new integration method, which is strictly derived for the cases of coincident elements as well as edge-adjacent and vertex-adjacent elements, leads to explicitly given regular integrand functions which can be integrated by the standard Gauss-Legendre and Gauss-Jacobi quadrature rules. Problems of a wide range of integral kernels on curved surfaces can be treated by this integration method. We give estimates of the quadrature errors of the singular four-dimensional integrals. Received June 25, 1995 / Revised version received January 29, 1996     

Explicit expressions for three-dimensional boundary integrals in linear elasticity

On employing isoparametric, piecewise linear shape functions over a flat triangle, exact formulae are derived for all surface potentials involved in the numerical treatment of three-dimensional singular and hyper-singular boundary integral equations in linear elasticity. These formulae are valid for an arbitrary source point in space and are represented as analytical expressions along the edges of the integration triangle. They can be employed to solve integral equations defined on triangulated surfaces via a collocation method or may be utilized as analytical expressions for the inner integrals in a Galerkin technique. A numerical example involving a unit triangle and a source point located at various distances above it, as well as sample problems solved by a collocation boundary element method for the Lamé equation are included to validate the proposed formulae.     

On the solvability of a boundary value problem for the Laplace equation on a screen with a boundary condition for a directional derivative

We consider a three-dimensional boundary value problem for the Laplace equation on a thin plane screen with boundary conditions for the “directional derivative”: boundary conditions for the derivative of the unknown function in the directions of vector fields defined on the screen surface are posed on each side of the screen. We study the case in which the direction of these vector fields is close to the direction of the normal to the screen surface. This problem can be reduced to a system of two boundary integral equations with singular and hypersingular integrals treated in the sense of the Hadamard finite value. The resulting integral equations are characterized by the presence of integral-free terms that contain the surface gradient of one of the unknown functions. We prove the unique solvability of this system of integral equations and the existence of a solution of the considered boundary value problem and its uniqueness under certain assumptions.     

Numerical integration schemes for space–time hypersingular integrals in energetic Galerkin BEM

Here we consider exterior Neumann wave propagation problems reformulated in terms of space–time hypersingular boundary integral equations. We deal with quadrature schemes required, in the discretization phase, by the energetic Galerkin boundary element method.     

Shape Derivatives of Boundary Integral Operators in Electromagnetic Scattering. Part I: Shape Differentiability of Pseudo-homogeneous Boundary Integral Operators

In this paper we study the shape differentiability properties of a class of boundary integral operators and of potentials with weakly singular pseudo-homogeneous kernels acting between classical Sobolev spaces, with respect to smooth deformations of the boundary. We prove that the boundary integral operators are infinitely differentiable without loss of regularity. The potential operators are infinitely shape differentiable away from the boundary, whereas their derivatives lose regularity near the boundary. We study the shape differentiability of surface differential operators. The shape differentiability properties of the usual strongly singular or hypersingular boundary integral operators of interest in acoustic, elastodynamic or electromagnetic potential theory can then be established by expressing them in terms of integral operators with weakly singular kernels and of surface differential operators.     

A new boundary integral equation formulation for plane orthotropic elastic media

A new boundary integral equation formulation for solving plane elasticity problems involving orthotropic media is presented in this paper. Based on the real variable fundamental solutions of the considered problems, a limit theorem for the transformation from domain integral equations into boundary integral equations (BIEs) and a novel decomposition technique to the fundamental solutions, the regularized BIEs with indirect unknowns, which do not involve the direct calculation of CPV and HFP integrals, are established. The limiting process is done in global coordinates and no separate numerical treatment for strong and weak singular integrals was necessary. The current method does not need to transform the considered problems into isotropic ones as is normally done in the existing literature, so no inverse transform is required. The numerical implementation is carried out using both discontinuous quadratic elements and exact elements, which is developed to model its boundary with negligible error. The validity of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by three numerical examples. Excellent agreement between the numerical results and exact solutions was obtained even with using small amounts of element.     

Hypersingular kernel integration in 3D Galerkin boundary element method

We consider Cauchy singular and Hypersingular boundary integral equations associated with 3D potential problems defined on polygonal domains, whose solutions are approximated with a Galerkin boundary element method, related to a given triangulation of the boundary. In particular, for constant and linear shape functions, the most frequently used basis functions, we give explicit results of the analytical inner integrations and suggest suitable quadrature schemes to evaluate the outer integrals required to form the Galerkin matrix elements. These numerical indications are given after an analysis of the singularities arising in the whole integration process, which is valid also for shape functions of higher degrees.     

Multi-domain mass conservative dual reciprocity method for the solution of the non-Newtonian Stokes equations

The dual reciprocity method (DRM) is a technique to transform the domain integrals that appear in the boundary element method into equivalent boundary integrals. In this approach the non-linear terms are approximated by an interpolation applied to the non-Newtonian stress tensor for an inelastic fluid. In the present paper we introduce a radial basis function interpolation scheme for the velocity field that satisfies the continuity equation (mass conservative interpolation). The proposed method performs better than the classical interpolation used in the DRM approach to represent such field. The new scheme together with a sub-domain variation of the DRM yields a more accurate solution for inelastic non-Newtonian problems.     

The solution of infinitely ill-conditioned weakly-singular problems

It is demonstrated on examples that a weak singularity (i.e., with converging improper integral) may produce in computations (depending on the algorithm employed) an infinitely ill-conditioned situation when arbitrarily small imprécisions introduced by the algorithm or by a software create divergent approximations for mathematically convergent integrals. The possibility of hidden singularities is shown, and the double error phenomenon is identified and demonstrated in a simple example. Construction of test problems is proposed to check the applicability of existing software prior to its use for the solution of real life problems with weakly-singular equations. It is shown that the application of the integration by parts formula to weakly-singular integrals may create strong singularities (i.e., unbounded terms or divergent improper integrals). Methods of removal of singularities with and without compensation are studied for the numerical solution of infinitely ill-conditioned weakly-singular problems.     

Modelling wave propagation phenomena in time domain by using the symmetric Galerkin BEM and the Convolution Quadrature Method

The boundary element method (BEM) is known to be well suited to treat wave propagation phenomena. Here, a 3-d elastodynamic body is under consideration. For a numerical treatment of the underlying boundary integral equations appropriate time and spatial discretizations have to be introduced. The time discretization is done via the Convolution Quadrature Method (CQM) as proposed by Lubich while a symmetric Galerkin scheme is applied in space. Unfortunately, the symmetric Galerkin boundary element method (SGBEM) requires the use of the second boundary integral equation involving a hypersingular kernel. Therefore, an appropriate regularization of the hypersingular bilinear form has to be established. Finally, a numerical study show that the presented approach yields good convergence rates as well as good numerical stability properties. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Galerkin boundary element method based on interpolatory Hermite trigonometric wavelets

A Galerkin boundary element method based on interpolatory Hermite trigonometric wavelets is presented for solving 2-D potential problems defined inside or outside of a circular boundary in this paper. In this approach, an equivalent variational form of the corresponding boundary integral equation for the potential problem is used; the trigonometric wavelets are employed as trial and test functions of the variational formulation. The analytical formulae of the matrix entries indicate that most of the matrix entries are naturally zero without any truncation technique and the system matrix is a block diagonal matrix. Each block consists of four circular submatrices. Hence the memory spaces and computational complexity of the system matrix are linear scale. This approach could be easily coupled into domain decomposition method based on variational formulation. Finally, the error estimates of the approximation solutions are given and some test examples are presented.