A note on the comparison between bie and fd techniques for solving elliptic BVPs with boundary singularities

Abstract

AbstractA quantative comparison between the boundary integral equation (BIE) method and the finite difference (FD) method is presented in which each technique is applied to an elliptic boundary‐value problem (BVP) containing a boundary singularity. Two types of singularity have previously been analysed theoretically, namely those due to a discontinuous boundary potential, which we shall refer to as S1, and those due to a sudden change from the specification of boundary potential flux, an S2 singularity. In this paper the analysis is presented for a third type of boundary singularity, namely an S3 singularity: that arising from a discontinuous boundary flux. Such a condition is frequently encountered in the field of heat transfer where, for example, a system or pipe has a change of lagging material.In general, it is found that the BIE method is superior, with regards to the computational time required to achieve a certain degree of accuracy, over standard FD methods even when there is a boundary singularity. Further, the BIE method determines the solution near the singularity much more accurately than the FD method. The FD method does, however, have advantages for a very restrictive class of problems; for example, when the boundary conditions are of the Dirichlet type and the boundary geometry is rectangular. In this case an optimum relaxation parameter can easily be obtained. A soon as Neumann conditions are prescribed, the BIE is far more efficient than the FD, whatever the boundary geometry.It is concluded that, for fast, accurate solutions of general Laplacian boundary‐value problems, the BIE is appreciably superior to the FD and this is even more pronounced when there is a boundary singularity.