In addition to theory, this study focuses on practical application and computer implementation in a coherent introduction to boundary integrals, boundary element and singularity methods for steady and unsteady flow at zero Reynolds numbers.

Harmonic and biharmonic boundary value problems (BVP) arising in physical situations in fluid mechanics are, in general, intractable by analytic techniques. In the last decade there has been a rapid increase in the application of integral equation techniques for the numerical solution of such problems [1,2,3]. One such method is the boundary integral equation method (BIE) which is based on Green's Formula [4] and enables one to reformulate certain BVP as integral equations. The reformulation has the effect of reducing the dimension of the problem by one. Because discretisation occurs only on the boundary in the BIE the system of equations generated by a BIE is considerably smaller than that generated by an equivalent finite difference (FD) or finite element (FE) approximation [5]. Application of the BIE in the field of fluid mechanics has in the past been limited almost entirely to the solution of harmonic problems concerning potential flows around selected geometries [3,6,7]. Little work seems to have been done on direct integral equation solution of viscous flow problems. Coleman [8] solves the biharmonic equation describing slow flow between two semi infinite parallel plates using a complex variable approach but does not consider the effects of singularities arising in the solution domain. Since the vorticity at any singularity becomes unbounded then the methods presented in [8] cannot achieve accurate results throughout the entire flow field.

Brings together classical and recent developments on the application of integral equation numerical techniques for the solution of fluid dynamic problems.

This volume demonstrates that boundary element methods are both elegant and efficient in their application to time dependent time harmonic problems in engineering and therefore worthy of considerable development.

It is increasingly the case that models of natural phenomena and materials processing systems involve viscous flows with free surfaces. These free boundaries are interfaces of the fluid with either second immiscible fluids or else deformable solid boundaries. The deformation can be due to mechanical displacement or as is the case here, due to phase transformation; the solid can melt or freeze. This volume highlights a broad range of subjects on interfacial phenomena. There is an overview of the mathematical description of viscous free-surface flows, a description of the current understanding of mathematical issues that arise in these models and a discussion of high-order-accuracy boundary-integral methods for the solution of viscous free surface flows. There is the mathematical analysis of particular flows: long-wave instabilities in viscous-film flows, analysis of long-wave instabilities leading to Marangoni convection, and de§ scriptions of the interaction of convection with morphological stability during directional solidification. This book is geared toward anyone with an interest in free-boundary problems, from mathematical analysts to material scientists; it will be useful to applied mathematicians, physicists, and engineers alike.