Boundary element stress analysis of thin layered anisotropic bodies

In this caper, the order of singularity of the integrals appearing in the boundary integral equation for two-dimensional BEM analysis in anisotropic elasticity is reduced using integration by parts. The integral containing the traction fundamental solution is then analytically integrated to give an exact formulation for a general element of n-order interpolation of the variables. This allows the integrals to be very accurately evaluated even for very thin, slender bodies without the need for excessively refined meshes as in conventional BEM analysis. Three example problems involving thin, layered materials are presented to demonstrate the veracity and successful implementation of the proposed scheme. The BEM results obtained show very good agreement with those obtained analytically for one, and with those from FEM analysis using the commercial software ANSYS for the other two example problems.