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.
GERNOT BEER is Professor of Structural Analysis at the Universtiy of Technology Graz, Austria. he has worked in the area of numerical modelling for more than two decades and has done some pioneering work in the coupling of the FEM and BEM. He is the author of the BEFE program, still the only commercial software available which completely integrates both these methods. This is his second book on the topic.