Boundary Element Method by Dislocation Distribution

Abstract

The method of dislocation distribution has been applied extensively to crack related problems by many people in the last fifteen years. It has been proved to be very successful in terms of accuracy and versatility. However, the potential of applicability of this method has not been fully explored. This paper shows a way to apply this method to plane stress problems with any geometry and loading conditions. The method of dislocation distribution is similar to the Boundary Element Method in spirit, but has the advantage of enjoying the fully developed numerical schemes in solving the formulated system of singular integral equations. Without extensive investigation, it is hard to tell whether this new approach will produce better results than the traditional BIE method. However, as demonstrated by the excellent results from the numerical examples, this method should be competitive and have the potential to become one of the best candidates for the type of elasticity problems where local stress evaluation is needed.