A New Boundary Element Formulation in Engineering

The book presents a new boundary element formulation for the solution of boundary-value problems in potential theory and linear elastostatics. The basis of the approach is a multifield variational principle. A stiffness type of formulation is generated, involving a symmetric stiffness matrix, which is only evaluated on the boundary. The formulation is completely developed and its implementation in computer code is explained in detail. Several numerical examples are shown and the solutions are compared to analytical and to other approximate solutions. Further, a study of the convergence of the solutions is presented. This monograph on numerical methods, boundary elements, finite elements, hybrid models is intended for graduate students, engineers and researchers.