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Author(s): A. J. Keddie, M. D. Pocock & V. G. DeGiorgi
Abstract:
The boundary element method (BEM) involves field nodes interacting with each
other.
Solving the ensuing matrix equations often requires an iterative solver to
be used at a cost that scales with the second power of the number of nodes per
iteration.
This limits the size of the problem that can be solved.
The fast
multipole method (FMM), introduces hubs to reduce the number of direct
interactions between field nodes in the BEM.
The cost of calculating the
matrix-vector multiplication using the FMM scales linearly with problem size.
This paper contains a brief mathematical description of the FMM for Laplace’s
equation in which a Taylor series expansion is used to model Green’s function.
The computational performance of the FMM applied to modelling an impressed
current cathodic protection (ICCP) system of a naval vessel is then investigated
and the results compared to those of a commercial BEM solver and experimental
(physical scale model) results.
For this relatively small example model, it is
shown that the cost benefit of the FMM is eight times greater than that of the
commercial solver.
Greater savings will be obtained on larger models.
The
results confirm that larger, more detailed, corrosion problems can be solved
faster using the FMM.
It is also shown that the capabilities of the FMM offer the
choice between reduced processing time and enhanced accuracy.
This provides
the user with the opportunity to sacrifice accuracy in order to run less
computationally expensive problems, for example during parametric studies.
Keywords: boundary element methods, fast multipole method, ICCP system.
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Pages: 10
Size: 583 kb
Paper DOI: 10.2495/ECOR070221
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