Presents Boundary Element Method (BEM) in a simple fashion in order to help the beginner to understand the very basic principles of the method. This book initially derives BEM for the simplest potential problems, and subsequently builds on these to formulate BEM for a wide range of applications in electromagnetics.

VI SOCRATES: I think that we ought to stress that we will write only about things that we have first hand experience in, in a coherent way that will be useful to engineers and other scientists and stressing the formulation without being too mathematical. We should write with integrity and honesty, giving reference to other authors where reference is due, but avoiding mentioning everybody just to be certain that our book is widely advertised. Above all, the book should be clear and useful. PLATO: I think we should include a good discussion of fundamental ideas, of how integral equations are formed, pointing out that they are like two dimensional shadows of three dimensional objects, ... SOCRATES: Stop there! Remember you are not 'the' Plato! PLATO: Sorry, I was carried away. ARISTOTLE: I think that the book should have many applications so that the reader can learn by looking at them how to use the method. SOCRATES: I agree. But we should be careful. It is easy to include many illustra tions and examples in a book in order to disguise its meagre contents. All examples should be relevant. ARISTOTLE: And we should also include a full computer program to give the reader if so he wishes, a working experience of the technique.

Over the past decades, the Boundary Element Method has emerged as a ver satile and powerful tool for the solution of engineering problems, presenting in many cases an alternative to the more widely used Finite Element Method. As with any numerical method, the engineer or scientist who applies it to a practical problem needs to be acquainted with, and understand, its basic principles to be able to apply it correctly and be aware of its limitations. It is with this intention that we have endeavoured to write this book: to give the student or practitioner an easy-to-understand introductory course to the method so as to enable him or her to apply it judiciously. As the title suggests, this book not only serves as an introductory course, but also cov ers some advanced topics that we consider important for the researcher who needs to be up-to-date with new developments. This book is the result of our teaching experiences with the Boundary Element Method, along with research and consulting activities carried out in the field. Its roots lie in a graduate course on the Boundary Element Method given by the authors at the university of Stuttgart. The experiences gained from teaching and the remarks and questions of the students have contributed to shaping the 'Introductory course' (Chapters 1-8) to the needs of the stu dents without assuming a background in numerical methods in general or the Boundary Element Method in particular.

This thorough yet understandable introduction to the boundary element method presents an attractive alternative to the finite element method. It not only explains the theory but also presents the implementation of the theory into computer code, the code in FORTRAN 95 can be freely downloaded. The book also addresses the issue of efficiently using parallel processing hardware in order to considerably speed up the computations for large systems. The applications range from problems of heat and fluid flow to static and dynamic elasto-plastic problems in continuum mechanics.

Boundary Element Techniques in Engineering deals with solutions of two- and three-dimensional problems in elasticity and the potential theory where finite elements are inefficient. The book discusses approximate methods, higher-order elements, elastostatics, time-dependent problems, non-linear problems, and combination of regions. Approximate methods include weighted residual techniques, weak formulations, the inverse formulation, and boundary methods. The text also explains Laplace's equation, indirect formulation, matrix formulation, Poisson's equation, and the Helmholtz equation. It describes how elements with linear variations of u and q (i.e. linear elements) can be developed for two dimensional problems, as well as for quadratic and higher order elements for two-dimensional problems. The text investigates the Dirac delta function as a sum of Eigen functions, including some methods to determine the explicit form of fundamental solutions for recurrent problems. The book also tackles the application of boundary elements to problems with both material and certain types of geometric non-linearities, and also the applications of boundary elements to plasticity problems. The text is ideal for mathematicians, students, and professor of calculus or advanced mathematics.

The boundary element method (BEM), also known as the boundary integral equation method (BIEM), is a modern numerical technique. It is an established alternative to traditional computational methods of engineering analysis. This book provides a comprehensive account of the method and its application to problems in engineering and science.