Boundary Element Methods for Engineers:

Part I: Potential Problems

Boundary Element Analysis of Potential Problems

2.6 Scaling
Whether using either constant or quadratic boundary elements, or indeed any other type, spurious
results can sometimes be obtained if the average domain dimension is of the order of unity. This makes
the typical radial distance between nodes to be of order unity, at which value the logarithmic kernel
1

function ln is zero. This difficulty can be simply avoided by ensuring that all distances between nodes

are either less than or greater than unity. Of the two, the first is easier to achieve, by first determining
the maximum dimension of the problem (the maximum distance between any pair of nodes) and using
this to scale all the problem dimensions to be less than unity. Once the solution to the scaled problem
has been obtained, the scaling can be removed.
An interesting side effect of this scaling is that problems are in effect being solved in the terms of
dimensionless ratios between actual dimensions and the maximum dimensions, thereby avoiding the
issue of what is meant by the logarithm of a dimensioned quantity.

2.7

Solving the Linear Equations

Using either constant or quadratic boundary elements the final outcome of the analysis is a set of linear
equations of the form
[( ][ = ] []2.102)

where [ ]and [] are respectively a matrix and column vector of known coefficients. Few if any of these
coefficients are zero in magnitude. This feature has an important bearing on the best choice of method
of solution. For example, iterative methods such as Gauss-Seidel are not suitable (and probably would
not converge). Direct elimination-type methods are appropriate, and one of the most common, Gaussian
elimination, is chosen here. The method is described in detail, including an appropriate computer
subprogram, in Appendix B.

2.8

Solving Poissons Equation

So far in this chapter attention has been focussed on solving Laplaces equation, Equation 2.2, rather
than the more general Poissons equation, Equation 2.1
2
2

2
2

= 2 = 1 (, ( )2.1)

With a non-zero function on the right hand side, integration of this function is required. For a general
function of position, which cannot be integrated analytically, numerical integration over the solution
domain is required. From the problems reviewed in Chapter 1, however, it is clear that the special case
of constant 1 (independent of co-ordinates and ) is one that embraces many problems of practical
interest in engineering.

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