Complex variable equations and the numerical solution of harmonic problems for piecewise-homogeneous media

Abstract

Complex variable boundary integral equations are derived using of holomorphicity theorems for plane harmonic problems concerning unit structures with inclusions, pores and lines of discontinuity of the potential and/or the flow. Unlike the method of analytical elements, the equations cover problems in which discontinuities in the potential, flow and conductance can simultaneously be encountered at the contact points. Versions of the equations are given for connected half planes and for periodic and biperiodic problems. Formulae are obtained which determine the effective impedance tensor of the equivalent homogeneous medium in cases when the unit structure is biperiodic or when the representative volume of a structured medium is identified with the basic cell of a biperiodic system. Recurrence quadrature formulae are proposed which enable one to solve the resulting equations effectively using the complex variable boundary element method. They indicate the computational advantages of using the complex variable method compared with the real variable method: the three integrals appearing in the resulting equations are evaluated analytically in the case of linear elements (regular and singular) with the densities approximated using algebraic polynomials of arbitrary degree. In the case of elements (regular and singular) in the form of an arc of a circle, only one integral requires numerical integration when the densities are approximated using complex trigonometrical polynomials of arbitrary degree. It is emphasized that the combination of the linear and curved boundary elements which have been developed enables the smooth part of a contour to be approximated while retaining the continuity of the tangent and avoiding the complications which arise when the smoothness of the approximation of a contour is ensured using conformal mapping. Examples are presented which illustrate the computational merits of the method developed. They show a sharp increase in accuracy (by orders of magnitude) when curved elements are used for the curvilinear parts of a contour and when terminal elements are used to calculate the flow intensity coefficient at singular points (the crack tips the vertices of angular notches and the common vertices of the units of the medium).