Author(s)

Bryce D. Wilkins, Theodore V. Hromadka, Randy Boucher

Department of Mathematics, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, USA.

In this work, a conceptual numerical solution of the two-dimensional wave partial differential equation (PDE) is developed by coupling the Complex Variable Boundary Element Method (CVBEM) and a generalized Fourier series. The technique described in this work is suitable for modeling initial-boundary value problems governed by the wave equation on a rectangular domain with Dirichlet boundary conditions and an initial condition that is equal on the boundary to the boundary conditions. The new numerical scheme is based on the standard approach of decomposing the global initial-boundary value problem into a steady-state component and a time-dependent component. The steady-state component is governed by the Laplace PDE and is modeled with the CVBEM. The time-dependent component is governed by the wave PDE and is modeled using a generalized Fourier series. The approximate global solution is the sum of the CVBEM and generalized Fourier series approximations. The boundary conditions of the steady-state component are specified as the boundary conditions from the global BVP. The boundary conditions of the time-dependent component are specified to be identically zero. The initial condition of the time-dependent component is calculated as the difference between the global initial condition and the CVBEM approximation of the steady-state solution. Additionally, the generalized Fourier series approximation of the time-dependent component is fitted so as to approximately satisfy the derivative of the initial condition. It is shown that the strong formulation of the wave PDE is satisfied by the superposed approximate solutions of the time-dependent and steady-state components.

Complex Variable Boundary Element Method (CVBEM), Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), Numerical Solution Techniques, Laplace Equation, Wave Equation

Wilkins, B. , Hromadka, T. and Boucher, R. (2017) A Conceptual Numerical Model of the Wave Equation Using the Complex Variable Boundary Element Method. Applied Mathematics, 8, 724-735. doi: 10.4236/am.2017.85057.