Boundary Element Analysis of Nonhomogeneous Biharmonic Phenomena

This text is concerned with solving the nonhomogeneous biharmonic equation by the boundary element method (BEM). Applications include the bending of beams, deflection of thin plates and creeping flow fluids. The text is a self-contained treatment of the implementation of the BEM in solving problems where the biharmonic operator appears in the governing equation. A computer program is included as part of the text. Element types discussed and implemented in the code are the constant, linear, quadratic and the Overhauser spline. Special techniques of handling the domain integrals resulting from the nonhomogeneous term are also presented.