A fast 3D dual boundary element method based on hierarchical matrices

In this paper a fast solver for three-dimensional BEM and DBEM is developed. The technique is based on the use of hierarchical matrices for the representation of the collocation matrix and uses a preconditioned GMRES for the solution of the algebraic system of equations. The preconditioner is built exploiting the hierarchical arithmetic and taking full advantage of the hierarchical format. Special algorithms are developed to deal with crack problems within the context of DBEM. The structure of DBEM matrices has been efficiently exploited and it has been demonstrated that, since the cracks form only small parts of the whole structure, the use of hierarchical matrices can be particularly advantageous. Test examples presented show that, with the proposed technique, substantial increase in number of elements over the crack surfaces leads only to moderate increases in memory storage and solution time.