Multiple reciprocity hybrid boundary node method for potential problems

Meshless methods have some obvious advantages such as they do not require meshes in the domain and on the boundary, only some nodes are needed in the computation. Furthermore, for the boundary-type meshless methods, the nodes are even not needed in the domain and only distributed on the boundary. Practice shows that boundary-type meshless methods are effective for homogeneous problems. But for inhomogeneous problems, the application of these boundary-type meshless methods has some difficulties and need to be studied further.The hybrid boundary node method (HBNM) is a boundary-only meshless method, which is based on the moving least squares (MLS) approximation and the hybrid displacement variational principle. No cell is required either for the interpolation of solution variables or for numerical integration. It has a drawback of ‘boundary layer effect’, so a new regular hybrid boundary node method (RHBNM) has been proposed to avoid this pitfall, in which the source points of the fundamental solutions are located outside the domain. These two methods, however, can only be used for solving homogeneous problems. Combining the dual reciprocity method (DRM) and the HBNM, the dual reciprocity hybrid boundary node method (DRHBNM) has been proposed for the inhomogeneous terms. The DRHBNM requires a substantial number of internal points to interpolate the particular solution by the radial basis function, where approximation based only on boundary nodes may not guarantee sufficient accuracy.Now a further improvement to the RHBNM, i.e., a combination of the RHBNM and the multiple reciprocity method (MRM), is presented and called the multiple reciprocity hybrid boundary node method (MRHBNM). The solution comprises two parts, i.e., the complementary and particular solutions. The complementary solution is solved by the RHBNM. The particular solution is solved by the MRM, i.e., a sum of high-order homogeneous solutions, which can be approximated by the same-order fundamental solutions. Compared with the DRHBNM, the MRHBNM does not require internal points to obtain the particular solution for inhomogeneous problems. Therefore, the present method is a real boundary-only meshless method, and can be used to deal with inhomogeneous problems conveniently. The validity and efficiency of the present method are demonstrated by a series of numerical examples of inhomogeneous potential problems.     

Development of a meshless hybrid boundary node method for Stokes flows

The meshless hybrid boundary node method (HBNM) is a promising method for solving boundary value problems, and is further developed and numerically implemented for incompressible 2D and 3D Stokes flows in this paper. In this approach, a new modified variational formulation using a hybrid functional is presented. The formulation is expressed in terms of domain and boundary variables. The moving least-squares (MLS) method is employed to approximate the boundary variables whereas the domain variables are interpolated by the fundamental solutions of Stokes equation, i.e. Stokeslets. The present method only requires scatter nodes on the surface, and is a truly boundary type meshless method as it does not require the ‘boundary element mesh’, either for the purpose of interpolation of the variables or the integration of ‘energy’. Moreover, since the primitive variables, i.e., velocity vector and pressure, are employed in this approach, the problem of finding the velocity is separated from that of finding pressure. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the implementation and performance of the present method. It is shown that the high convergence rates and accuracy can be achieved with a small number of nodes.     

The meshless regular hybrid boundary node method for 2D linear elasticity

The meshless Regular Hybrid Boundary Node Method (RHBNM) is a promising method for solving boundary value problems, and is further developed and numerically implemented for 2D linear elasticity in this paper. The present method is based on a modified functional and the Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation, and exploits the meshless attributes of the MLS and the reduced dimensionality advantages of the BEM. As a result, the RHBNM is truly meshless, i.e. it only requires nodes constructed on the surface, and absolutely no cells are needed either for interpolation of the solution variables or for the boundary integration. All integrals can be easily evaluated over regular shaped domains and their boundaries.Numerical examples show that the high convergence rates with mesh refinement and the high accuracy with a small node number is achievable. The treatment of singularities and further integrations required for the computation of the unknown domain variables, as in the conventional BEM, can be avoided.     

A meshless hybrid boundary-node method for Helmholtz problems

By coupling the moving least squares (MLS) approximation with a modified functional, the hybrid boundary node-method (hybrid BNM) is a boundary-only, truly meshless method. Like boundary element method (BEM), an initial restriction of the present method is that non-homogeneous terms accounting for effects such as distributed loads are included in the formulation by means of domain integrals, and thus make the technique lose the attraction of its ‘boundary-only’ character.This paper presents a new boundary-type meshless method dual reciprocity-hybrid boundary node method (DR-HBNM), which is combined the hybrid BNM with the dual reciprocity method (DRM) for solving Helmholtz problems. In this method, the solution of Helmholtz problem is divided into two parts, i.e. the complementary solution and the particular solution. The complementary solution is solved by means of hybrid BNM and the particular one is obtained by DRM. The modified variational formulation is applied to form the discrete equations of hybrid BNM. The MLS is employed to approximate the boundary variables, while the domain variables are interpolated by fundamental solutions. The domain integration is interpolated by radial basis function (RBF). The proposed method in the paper retains the characteristics of the meshless method and BEM, which only requires discrete nodes constructed on the boundary of a domain, several nodes in the domain are needed just for the RBF interpolation. The parameters that influence the performance of this method are studied through numerical examples and known analytical fields. Numerical results for the solution of Helmholtz equation show that high convergence rates and high accuracy are achievable.     

Development of hybrid boundary node method in two-dimensional elasticity

As a truly meshless method, the Hybrid Boundary Node Method (HBNM) does not require a ‘boundary element mesh’, either for the purpose of interpolation of the solution variables or for the integration of ‘energy’. It has been applied to solve the potential problems. This paper presents a further development of the HBNM to the 2D elastic problems.In this paper, the hybrid displacement variational formulations have been coupled with the Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation. The rigid body movement method is employed to solve the hyper-singular integrations. The ‘boundary layer effect’, which is the main drawback of the original HBNM, has been circumvented by an adaptive integration scheme.In the present method, the source points of the fundamental solution are arranged directly on the boundary. Thus, the uncertain scale factor taken in the Regular Hybrid Boundary Node Method (RHBNM) can be avoided. The parameters that influence the performance of this method are studied through several numerical examples and the known analytical solutions. The treatment of singularity and further integration has been given by a series of effective approaches. The computation results obtained by the present method are shown that good convergence and high accuracy with a small node number are achievable.     

An improved hybrid boundary node method for solving steady fluid flow problems

This paper describes the application of an improved hybrid boundary node method (hybrid BNM) for solving steady fluid flow problems. The hybrid BNM is a boundary type meshless method, which combined the moving least squares (MLS) approximation and the modified variational principle. It only requires nodes constructed on the boundary of the domain, and does not require any ‘mesh’ neither for the interpolation of variables nor for the integration. As the variables inside the domain are interpolated by the fundamental solutions, the accuracy of the hybrid BNM is rather high. However, shape functions for the classical MLS approximation lack the delta function property. Thus in this method, the boundary condition cannot be enforced easily and directly, and its computational cost is high for the inevitable transformation strategy of boundary condition. In the method we proposed, a regularized weight function is adopted, which leads to the MLS shape functions fulfilling the interpolation condition exactly, which enables a direct application of essential boundary conditions without additional numerical effort. The improved hybrid BNM has successfully implemented in solving steady fluid flow problems. The numerical examples show the excellent characteristics of this method, and the computation results obtained by this method are in a well agreement with the analytical solutions, which indicate that the method we introduced in this paper can be implemented to other problems.     

A hybrid boundary node method

A new variational formulation for boundary node method (BNM) using a hybrid displacement functional is presented here. The formulation is expressed in terms of domain and boundary variables, and the domain variables are interpolated by classical fundamental solution; while the boundary variables are interpolated by moving least squares (MLS). The main idea is to retain the dimensionality advantages of the BNM, and get a truly meshless method, which does not require a ‘boundary element mesh’, either for the purpose of interpolation of the solution variables, or for the integration of the ‘energy’. All integrals can be easily evaluated over regular shaped domains (in general, semi‐sphere in the 3‐D problem) and their boundaries. Numerical examples presented in this paper for the solution of Laplace's equation in 2‐D show that high rates of convergence with mesh refinement are achievable, and the computational results for unknown variables are most accurate. No further integrations are required to compute the unknown variables inside the domain as in the conventional BEM and BNM. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dual reciprocity hybrid boundary node method for acoustic eigenvalue problems

The hybrid boundary node method (HBNM) is a truly meshless method, and elements are not required for either interpolation or integration. The method, however, can only be used for solving homogeneous problems. For the inhomogeneous problem, the domain integration is inevitable. This paper applied the dual reciprocity hybrid boundary node method (DRHBNM), which is composed by the HBNM and the dual reciprocity method (DRM) for solving acoustic eigenvalue problems. In this method, the solution is composed of two parts, i.e. the complementary solution and the particular solution. The complementary solution is solved by HBNM and the particular one is obtained by DRM. The modified variational formulation is applied to form the discrete equations of HBNM. The moving least squares (MLS) is employed to approximate the boundary variables, while the domain variables are interpolated by the fundamental solutions. The domain integration is interpolated by radial basis function (RBF). The Q–R algorithm and Householder algorithm are applied for solving the eigenvalues of the transformed matrix. The parameters that influence the performance of DRHBNM are studied through numerical examples. Numerical results show that high convergence rates and high accuracy are achievable.     

A Galerkin boundary node method for biharmonic problems

A Galerkin boundary node method (GBNM) is developed in this paper for solving biharmonic problems. The GBNM combines an equivalent variational form of boundary integral formulations for governing equations with the moving least-squares approximations for construction of the trial and test functions. In this approach, only a nodal data structure on the boundary of a domain is required. In addition, boundary conditions can be implemented accurately and the system matrices are symmetric. The convergence of this method and numerical examples are given to show the efficiency.     

The meshless Galerkin boundary node method for Stokes problems in three dimensions

The Galerkin boundary node method (GBNM) is a boundary only meshless method that combines an equivalent variational formulation of boundary integral equations for governing equations and the moving least‐squares (MLS) approximations for generating the trial and test functions. In this approach, boundary conditions can be implemented directly and easily despite of the fact that the MLS shape functions lack the delta function property. Besides, the resulting formulation inherits the symmetry and positive definiteness of the variational problems. The GBNM is developed in this paper for solving three‐dimensional stationary incompressible Stokes flows in primitive variables. The numerical scheme is based on variational formulations for the first‐kind integral equations, which are valid for both interior and exterior problems simultaneously. A rigorous error analysis and convergence study of the method for both the velocity and the pressure is presented in Sobolev spaces. The capability of the method is also illustrated and assessed through some selected numerical examples. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Meshless analysis of potential problems in three dimensions with the hybrid boundary node method

Combining a modified functional with the moving least‐squares (MLS) approximation, the hybrid boundary node method (Hybrid BNM) is a truly meshless, boundary‐only method. The method may have advantages from the meshless local boundary integral equation (MLBIE) method and also the boundary node method (BNM). In fact, the Hybrid BNN requires only the discrete nodes located on the surface of the domain. The Hybrid BNM has been applied to solve 2D potential problems. In this paper, the Hybrid BNM is extended to solve potential problems in three dimensions. Formulations of the Hybrid BNM for 3D potential problems and the MLS approximation on a generic surface are developed. A general computer code of the Hybrid BNM is implemented in C++. The main drawback of the ‘boundary layer effect’ in the Hybrid BNM in the 2D case is circumvented by an adaptive face integration scheme. The parameters that influence the performance of this method are studied through three different geometries and known analytical fields. Numerical results for the solution of the 3D Laplace's equation show that high convergence rates with mesh refinement and high accuracy are achievable. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biharmonic analysis of rectilinear plates by the boundary element method

An improved boundary element formulation (BEM) for two-dimensional non-homogeneous biharmonic analysis of rectilinear plates is presented. A boundary element formulation is developed from a coupled set of Poisson-type boundary integral equations derived from the governing non-homogeneous biharmonic equation. Emphasis is given to the development of exact expressions for the piecewise rectilinear boundary integration of the fundamental solution and its derivatives over several types of isoparametric elements. Incorporation of the explicit form of the integrations into the boundary element formulation improves the computational accuracy of the solution by substantially eliminating the error introduced by numerical quadrature, particularly those errors encountered near singularities. In addition, the single iterative nature of the exact calculations reduces the time necessary to compile the boundary system matrices and also provides a more rapid evaluation of internal point values than do formulations using regular numerical quadrature techniques. The evaluation of the domain integrations associated with biharmonic forms of the non-homogeneous terms of the governing equation are transformed to an equivalent set of boundary integrals. Transformations of this type are introduced to avoid the difficulties of domain integration. The resulting set of boundary integrals describing the domain contribution is generally evaluated numerically; however, some exact expressions for several commonly encountered non-homogeneous terms are used. Several numerical solutions of the deflection of rectilinear plates using the boundary element method (BEM) are presented and compared to existing numerical or exact solutions.     

Meshless analysis of two-dimensional Stokes flows with the Galerkin boundary node method

In this paper, the Galerkin boundary node method (GBNM) is developed for the solution of stationary Stokes problems in two dimensions. The GBNM is a boundary only meshless method that combines a variational form of boundary integral formulations for governing equations with the moving least-squares (MLS) approximations for construction of the trial and test functions. Boundary conditions in this approach are included into the variational form, thus they can be applied directly and easily despite the MLS shape functions lack the property of a delta function. Besides, the GBNM keeps the symmetry and positive definiteness of the variational problems. Convergence analysis results of both the velocity and the pressure are given. Some selected numerical tests are also presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the method.     

Boundary integral equation solution of viscous flows with free surfaces

Summary solutions of the biharmonic equation governing steady two-dimensional viscous flow of an incompressible Newtonian fluid are obtained by employing a direct biharmonic boundary integral equation (BBIE) method in which Green's theorem is used to reformulate the differential equation as a pair of coupled integral equations which are applied only on the boundary of the solution domain.An iterative modification of the classical BBIE is presented which is able to solve a large class of (nonlinear) viscous free surface flows for a wide range of surface tensions. The method requires a knowledge of the asymptotic behaviour of the free surface profile in the limiting case of infinite surface tension but this can usually be obtained from a perturbation analysis. Unlike space discretisation techniques such as finite difference or finite element, the BBIE evaluates only boundary information on each iteration. Once the solution is evaluated on the boundary the solution at interior points can easily be obtained.     

The multi-domain hybrid boundary node method for 3D elasticity

In this paper, a multi-domain technique for 3D elasticity problems is derived from the hybrid boundary node method (Hybrid BNM). The Hybrid BNM is based on the modified variational principle and the Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation. It does not require a boundary element mesh, neither for the purpose of interpolation of the solution variables nor for the integration of energy. This method can reduce the human-labor costs of meshing, especially for complex construction. This paper presents a further development of the Hybrid BNM for multi-domain analysis in 3D elasticity. Using the equilibrium and continuity conditions on the interfaces, the final algebraic equation is obtained by assembling the algebraic equation for each single sub-domain. The proposed multi-domain technique is capable to deal with interface and multi-medium problems and results in a block sparsity of the coefficient matrix. Numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed multi-domain technique.     

An advanced numerical method for computing elastodynamic fracture parameters in functionally graded materials

A new meshless method for computing the dynamic stress intensity factors (SIFs) in continuously non-homogeneous solids under a transient dynamic load is presented. The method is based on the local boundary integral equation (LBIE) formulation and the moving least squares (MLS) approximation. The analyzed domain is divided into small subdomains, in which a weak solution is assumed to exist. Nodal points are randomly spread in the analyzed domain and each one is surrounded by a circle centered at the collocation point. The boundary-domain integral formulation with elastostatic fundamental solutions for homogeneous solids in Laplace-transformed domain is used to obtain the weak solution for subdomains. On the boundary of the subdomains, both the displacement and the traction vectors are unknown generally. If modified elastostatic fundamental solutions vanishing on the boundary of the subdomain are employed, the traction vector is eliminated from the local boundary integral equations for all interior nodal points. The spatial variation of the displacements is approximated by the MLS scheme.     

Fundamental-solution-based hybrid FEM for plane elasticity with special elements

The present paper develops a new type of hybrid finite element model with regular and special fundamental solutions (also known as Green’s functions) as internal interpolation functions for analyzing plane elastic problems in structures weakened by circular holes. A variational functional used in the proposed model is first constructed, and then, the assumed intra-element displacement fields satisfying a priori the governing partial differential equations of the problem under consideration is constructed using a linear combination of fundamental solutions at a number of source points outside the element domain, as was done in the method of fundamental solutions. To ensure continuity of fields over inter-element boundaries, conventional shape functions are employed to construct the independent element frame displacement fields defined over the element boundary. The linkage of these two independent fields and the element stiffness equations in terms of nodal displacements are enforced by the minimization of the proposed variational functional. Special-purpose Green’s functions associated with circular holes are used to construct a special circular hole element to effectively handle stress concentration problems without complicated local mesh refinement or mesh regeneration around the hole. The practical efficiency of the proposed element model is assessed via several numerical examples.     

Hybrid fundamental-solution-based FEM for piezoelectric materials

In this paper, a new type of hybrid finite element method (FEM), hybrid fundamental-solution-based FEM (HFS-FEM), is developed for analyzing plane piezoelectric problems by employing fundamental solutions (Green’s functions) as internal interpolation functions. A modified variational functional used in the proposed model is first constructed, and then the assumed intra-element displacement fields satisfying a priori the governing equations of the problem are constructed by using a linear combination of fundamental solutions at a number of source points located outside the element domain. To ensure continuity of fields over inter-element boundaries, conventional shape functions are employed to construct the independent element frame displacement fields defined over the element boundary. The proposed methodology is assessed by several examples with different boundary conditions and is also used to investigate the phenomenon of stress concentration in infinite piezoelectric medium containing a hole under remote loading. The numerical results show that the proposed algorithm has good performance in numerical accuracy and mesh distortion insensitivity compared with analytical solutions and those from ABAQUS. In addition, some new insights on the stress concentration have been clarified and presented in the paper.     

The Almansi method of fundamental solutions for solving biharmonic problems

A new fundamental solutions method for the numerical solution of two-dimensional biharmonic problems is described. In this method, which is based on the Almansi representation of a biharmonic function in the plane, the approximate solution is expressed in terms of fundamental solutions of Laplace's equation, and is determined by a least squares fit of the boundary conditions. The results of numerical experiments which demonstrate the efficacy of the method are presented.     

Improved element-free Galerkin method for two-dimensional potential problems

Potential difficulties arise in connection with various physical and engineering problems in which the functions satisfy a given partial differential equation and particular boundary conditions. These problems are independent of time and involve only space coordinates, as in Poisson's equation or the Laplace equation with Dirichlet, Neuman, or mixed conditions. When the problems are too complex, they usually cannot be solved with analytical solutions. The element-free Galerkin (EFG) method is a meshless method for solving partial differential equations on which the trial and test functions employed in the discretization process result from moving least-squares (MLS) interpolants. In this paper, by using the weighted orthogonal basis function to construct the MLS interpolants, we derive the formulae of an improved EFG (IEFG) method for two-dimensional potential problems. There are fewer coefficients in the improved MLS (IMLS) approximation than in the MLS approximation, and in the IEFG method fewer nodes are selected in the entire domain than in the conventional EFG method. Hence, the IEFG method should result in a higher computing speed.