W.S. Hall - Böcker

This work sets out a simple, efficient and cost-effective computational technique which provides numerical solutions, for objects of any shape, to a wide range of scientific and engineering problems. It provides a complete approach to formulating boundary integral equations for scientific and engineering problems and solving them numerically using an element approximation. Only a knowledge of elementary calculus is required, since the text begins by relating familiar differential equations to integral equations and then moves on to the simple solution of integral equations. From this starting point, the mathematics of formulation and numerical approximation are developed progressively with every mathematical step being provided. Particular attention is paid to the problem of accurate evaluation of singular integrands and to the use of increasing levels of accuracy provided by constant, linear and quadratic approximations. This enables a full solution to be given for both two-dimensional and three-dimensional potential problems and finally, for the two-dimensional elastostatics problem."The Boundary Element Method" develops the mathematics of the text progressively both within chapters and from chapter to chapter. It is a self-contained, step-by-step exposition of the boundary element method, leading to its application to the key problem of elastostatics. The text may be used as a standard introductory reference text for the mathematics of this method and is suitable for final year undergraduate study as well as for postgraduates, scientists and engineers new to the subject. Worked examples and exercises are provided throughout the text.

This text consists of up-to-date contributions from leading European researchers and practitioners centred on soil-structure interaction problems. The boundary element method is used as an appropriate solution technique for problems involving complex geometries, and often unbounded media. For non-linear problems the boundary element method is used in conjunction with the finite element method. Other topics are treated, such as fracture mechanics, from which advanced methods may be taken for future use in earthquake engineering. Overall, the book provides an authorative guide to the literature on the subject covered and should prove a useful tool for practising engineers, students and scholars in the fields of structural, geotechnical and earthquake engineering. Engineers and students may readily locate the materials or methods available for the solution of their particular problem while scholars may discover methods previously not considered for the particular application being considered.The book should also be of interest to the larger community of applied mathematicians and software developers in seeing a field where the boundary element method can provide a wealth of relevant and efficient solutions. Finally the book can be used as a starting point for research and for the investigation of unsolved problems in soil-structure and fluids-structure-soil interaction, particularly non-linear coupled problems which could be advantageously approached by means of boundary element methods.

The book provides an authoritative guide to the literature on the subject covered and is expected to be an invaluable tool for practising engineers, students and scholars in the fields of Structural, Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineering. Engineers and students may readily locate the materials or methods available for the solution of their particular problem while scholars may discover methods previously not considered for the particular application being considered. The book should also be of interest to the larger community of applied mathematicians and software developers in seeing a field where the Boundary Element Method can provide a wealth of relevant and efficient solutions. Finally the book can be used as a starting point for research and for the investigation of unsolved problems in Soil-Structure and Fluids-Structure-Soil Interaction, particularly non-linear coupled problems which could be advantageously approached by means of Boundary Element Methods.