As a numerical method used in the simulations of many potential and acoustic problems, the boundary element method (BEM) has suffered from high solution cost for quite some time, although it has the advantage in the modeling or meshing stage. One way to improve the solution efficiency of the BEM is to use the fast multipole method (FMM). The reduction of the computing cost with the FMM is achieved by using multilevel clustering of the boundary elements, the use of multipole expansions of the fundamental solutions and adaptive fast multipole algorithms. In combination with iterative solvers, the fast multipole boundary element method (FMBEM) is capable of solving many large-scale 3-D problems on desktop PCs. In this dissertation, 3-D adaptive fast multipole boundary element methods for solving large-scale potential (e.g., thermal and electrostatic) and acoustic wave problems are developed. For large-scale potential problems, an adaptive fast multipole algorithm is developed in the FMBEM implementation. The conventional boundary integral equation (CBIE), hyper-singular boundary integral equation (HBIE) and their combination, dual boundary integral equation (CHBIE), are adopted and can be selectively chosen to solve different models. Both the conventional and the new fast multipole method with diagonal translations are implemented and their performances are compared. Implementation issues related to reusing the pre-conditioner and storing the coefficients to further improve the efficiency are addressed. Numerical examples, ranging from simple block models to heat sink and large-scale models of micro-electro-mechanical-systems are tested and presented. For large-scale acoustic problems, a modified version of adaptive fast multipole algorithm is developed for full-space problems first. The Burton-Miller formulation using a linear combination of the CBIE and HBIE is used to overcome the non-uniqueness difficulties in the BIEs for exterior problems. Several large-scale radiation and scattering problems, including scattering and radiating spheres and an engine model are tested. Then, the full-space algorithm is further modified and extended to solving half-space problems. Instead of using a tree structure that contains both real domain and its mirror image, the same tree structure that has been used in the full-space domain is used in the half-pace domain, which greatly simplifies the implementation of half-space FMBEM and reduces the memory storage size. Several examples including spheres sitting on the ground and sound barriers are tested. All the numerical examples of the potential and acoustic problems presented in this dissertation clearly demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the developed adaptive fast multipole boundary element methods. The adaptive FMBEM code for potential problems and the adaptive FMEBM code for acoustic problems have been integrated in a single software package, which is well structured, modularized and extendable to handling other types of problems. Three journal papers have been published based on the work reported in this dissertation, and one journal paper on the half-space problem is in preparation. This dissertation research has significantly advanced the FMBEM for solving large-scale 3-D potential and acoustic problems. The developed adaptive fast multipole algorithms can be easily extended to the FMBEM for 3-D single-domain elasticity, Stokes flow, and multi-domain potential, acoustic, elasticity and Stokes problems for applications in large-scale modeling of composites, functionally-graded materials, micro-electro-mechanical-systems, and biological materials and fluids.

The fast multipole method is one of the most important algorithms in computing developed in the 20th century. Along with the fast multipole method, the boundary element method (BEM) has also emerged as a powerful method for modeling large-scale problems. BEM models with millions of unknowns on the boundary can now be solved on desktop computers using the fast multipole BEM. This is the first book on the fast multipole BEM, which brings together the classical theories in BEM formulations and the recent development of the fast multipole method. Two- and three-dimensional potential, elastostatic, Stokes flow, and acoustic wave problems are covered, supplemented with exercise problems and computer source codes. Applications in modeling nanocomposite materials, bio-materials, fuel cells, acoustic waves, and image-based simulations are demonstrated to show the potential of the fast multipole BEM. Enables students, researchers, and engineers to learn the BEM and fast multipole method from a single source.

This volume in the Elsevier Series in Electromagnetism presents a detailed, in-depth and self-contained treatment of the Fast Multipole Method and its applications to the solution of the Helmholtz equation in three dimensions. The Fast Multipole Method was pioneered by Rokhlin and Greengard in 1987 and has enjoyed a dramatic development and recognition during the past two decades. This method has been described as one of the best 10 algorithms of the 20th century. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important to give a detailed exposition of the Fast Multipole Method that will be accessible to a broad audience of researchers. This is exactly what the authors of this book have accomplished. For this reason, it will be a valuable reference for a broad audience of engineers, physicists and applied mathematicians. The Only book that provides comprehensive coverage of this topic in one location Presents a review of the basic theory of expansions of the Helmholtz equation solutions Comprehensive description of both mathematical and practical aspects of the fast multipole method and it's applications to issues described by the Helmholtz equation

The proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Boundary Elements and Other Mesh Reduction Methods, an internationally recognized forum for the dissemination of the latest advances on mesh reduction techniques and their applications in science and engineering.

Issues in Electrical, Computer, and Optical Engineering: 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Electrical, Computer, and Optical Engineering. The editors have built Issues in Electrical, Computer, and Optical Engineering: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Electrical, Computer, and Optical Engineering in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Electrical, Computer, and Optical Engineering: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

A substantial amount of research on Boundary Elements has taken place since publication of the first Volume of this series. Most of the new work has concentrated on the solution of non-linear and time dependent problems and the development of numerical techniques to increase the efficiency of the method. Chapter 1 of this Volume deals with the solution of non-linear potential problems, for which the diffusivity coefficient is a function of the potential and the boundary conditions are also non-linear. The recent research reported here opens the way for the solution of a: large range of non-homogeneous problems by using a simple transformation which linearizes the governing equations and consequently does not require the use of internal cells. Chapter 2 summarizes the main integral equations for the solution of two-and three dimensional scalar wave propagation problems. This is a type of problem that is well suited to boundary elements but generally gives poor results when solved using finite elements. The problem of fracture mechanics is studied in Chapter 3, where the ad vantages of using boundary integral equations are demonstrated. One of the most interesting features of BEM i~ the possibility of describing the problem only as a function of the boundary unknowns, even in the presence of body, centrifugal and temperature induced forces. Chapter 4 explains how this can be done for two-and three-dimensional elastostatic problems.

Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS). These peer-reviewed proceedings comprise the papers presented at a conference whose main theme was Mechanical and Electronics Engineering. The main goal of the event was to provide an international scientific forum for the exchange of new ideas in a number of fields and for in-depth interaction via discussions with peers from around the world. Core areas of Information and Network Technology, plus multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and applied aspects were covered.