Yj. Liu, ANALYSIS OF SHELL-LIKE STRUCTURES BY THE BOUNDARY-ELEMENT METHOD BASED ON 3-D ELASTICITY - FORMULATION AND VERIFICATION, International journal for numerical methods in engineering, 41(3), 1998, pp. 541-558
In this paper, the Boundary Element Method (BEM) for 3-D elastostatic
problems is studied for the analysis of shell or shell-like structures
. It is shown that the conventional boundary integral equation (CBIE)
for 3-D elasticity does not degenerate when applied to shell-like stru
ctures, contrary to the case when it is applied to crack-like problems
where it does degenerate due to the closeness of the two crack surfac
es. The treatment of the nearly singular integrals, which is a crucial
step in the applications of BIEs to thin shapes, is presented in deta
il. To verify the theory, numerical examples of spherical and ellipsoi
dal vessels are presented using the BEM approach developed in this pap
er. It is found that the system of equations using the CBIE is well co
nditioned for all the thickness studied for the vessels. The advantage
s, disadvantages and potential applications of the proposed BEM approa
ch to shell-like structures, as compared with the FEM regarding modell
ing and accuracy, are discussed in the last section. Applications of t
his BEM approach to shell-like structures with non-uniform thickness,
stiffeners and layers will be reported in a subsequent paper. (C) 1998
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.