The Singular Function Boundary Integral Method for Laplacian problems with boundary singularities in two and three-dimensions

We present a Singular Function Boundary Integral Method (SFBIM) for solving elliptic problems with a boundary singularity. In this method the solution is approximated by the leading terms of the asymptotic solution expansion, which exists near the singular point and is known for many benchmark problems. The unknowns to be calculated are the singular coefficients, i.e. the coefficients in the asymptotic expansion, also called (generalized) stress intensity factors. The discretized Galerkin equations are reduced to boundary integrals by means of Green's theorem and the Dirichlet boundary conditions are weakly enforced by means of Lagrange multipliers, the values of which are introduced as additional unknowns in the resulting linear system. The method is described for two-dimensional Laplacian problems for which the analysis establishes exponential rates of convergence as the number of terms in the asymptotic expansion is increased. We also discuss the extension of the method to three-dimensional Laplacian problems with exhibits edge singularities. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.