Programming the Boundary Element Method

The boundary element method (BEM) can be applied to a wide range of physical problems and is particularly efficient and accurate for problems defined over unbounded regions, problems with stress concentrations or singularities and moving boundaries. Since it can provide a complete solution in terms of boundary values only, the BEM has become a viable alternative to more traditional computational methods of mathematical engineering that offers substantial savings in computing time and data preparation effort. This book focuses on explanations of the BEM from an engineering perspective rather than a mathematical one to clarify the method. It also shows that programming the BEM need not be complicated when using a modern programming language such as FORTRAN 95.