Boundary element methods in heat transfer

Heat transfer problems in industry are usually of a very complex nature, simultaneously involving different transfer modes such as conduction, convection, radiation and others. Because of this, very few problems can be solved analytically and one generally has to resort to numerical analysis. The boundary element method is a numerical technique which has been receiving growing attention for solving heat transfer problems because of its unique ability to confine the discretization process to the boundaries of the problem region. This allows major reductions in the data preparation and computer effort necessary to solve complex industrial problems. The purpose of this book is to present efficient algorithms used in conjunction with the boundary element method for the solution of steady and transient, linear and non-linear heat transfer problems. It represents the state-of-the-art of boundary element applications in the field of heat transfer, and constitutes essential reading for researchers and practising engineers involved with this important topic.