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Introduction To The Boundary Element Method

The boundary element method (BEM) is a numerical technique used to solve partial differential equations (PDEs) that defines problems over boundaries. It works by reformulating PDEs into integral equations defined over the boundaries of the domain rather than throughout the domain. This reduces the dimension of the problem by one. The BEM is applicable for certain classes of PDEs and is often more computationally efficient than finite element or finite difference methods. While the mathematics is complex, the associated website provides codes to implement the BEM without deep mathematical knowledge.

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111 views1 page

Introduction To The Boundary Element Method

The boundary element method (BEM) is a numerical technique used to solve partial differential equations (PDEs) that defines problems over boundaries. It works by reformulating PDEs into integral equations defined over the boundaries of the domain rather than throughout the domain. This reduces the dimension of the problem by one. The BEM is applicable for certain classes of PDEs and is often more computationally efficient than finite element or finite difference methods. While the mathematics is complex, the associated website provides codes to implement the BEM without deep mathematical knowledge.

Uploaded by

Youns
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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www.boundary-element-method.

com

Introduction to the Boundary Element Method


Over recent decades, the boundary element method (BEM) has received much attention from
researchers and has become an important technique in the computational solution of a number
of physical problems. In common with the better-known finite element method (FEM)1 and
finite difference method (FDM)2, the boundary element method is a method for solving partial
differential equations (PDEs)3 and can only be employed when the physical problem can be
expressed as such. Hence the BEM development is a topic in applied mathematics4.

As with the other methods mentioned, the boundary element method is a numerical method5
and hence it is an important subject of research amongst the numerical analysis community.
However, the potential advantages of the BEM have seemed so considerable that the strongest
impetus behind its development has come from the engineering community, in its enthusiasm
to obtain flexible and efficient computer-based solutions to a range of engineering problems.

The boundary element method is derived through the discretisation of an integral equation that
is mathematically equivalent to the original partial differential equation. The essential re-
formulation of the PDE that underlies the BEM consists of an integral equation that is defined on
the boundary of the domain and an integral that relates the boundary solution to the solution at
points in the domain. The former is termed a boundary integral equation (BIE) and the BEM is
often referred to as the boundary integral equation method or boundary integral method. Over
the last twenty years the term boundary element method has become more popular. The other
terms are still used in the literature however, particularly when authors wish to refer to the
overall derivation and analysis of the methods, rather than their implementation or application.

An integral equation re-formulation can only be derived for certain classes of PDE . Hence the
BEM is not widely applicable when compared to the near-universal adaptability of the finite
element and finite difference method. However, in the cases in which the boundary element
method is applicable, it often results in a numerical method that is easier to use and more
computationally efficient than the competing methods. The advantages in the boundary element
method arises from the fact that only the boundary (or boundaries) of the domain of the PDE
requires sub-division to produce a surface or boundary mesh6. (In the finite element method or
finite difference method the whole domain of the PDE requires discretisation.) Thus the
dimension of the problem is effectively reduced by one, for example an equation governing a
three-dimensional region is transformed into one over its surface. In cases where the domain is
exterior to the boundary - for example the acoustic field surrounding a loudspeaker - the extent
of the domain is infinite and hence the advantages of the BEM are even more striking; the
equation governing the infinite domain is reduced to an equation over the (finite) boundary.

The mathematics underlying the boundary element method is far from simple. However, in the
associated website www.boundary-element-method.com the mathematics is embedded in the
codes which can be downloaded. All that is needed is an appreciation of the domains and
physical quantities that are being modelled.
1 www.finite-element-method.info
2 www.numerical-methods.com/fdm.htm
3 www.appliedmathematics.info/pde.htm
4 www.applied-mathematics.info
5 www.numerical-methods.com
6 Boundary Representation in the Boundary Element Method

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