An approximate method for solving a class of weakly-singular Volterra integro-differential equations

In this paper, we present a new approach to resolve linear and nonlinear weakly-singular Volterra integro-differential equations of first-or second-order by first removing the singularity using Taylor's approximation and then transforming the given first-or second-order integro-differential equations into an ordinary differential equation such as the well-known Legendre, degenerate hypergeometric, Euler or Abel equations in such a manner that Adomian's asymptotic decomposition method can be applied, which permits convenient resolution of these equations. Some examples with closed-form solutions are studied in detail to further illustrate the proposed technique, and the results obtained demonstrate this approach is indeed practical and efficient. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.