The boundary element method for three-dimensional Stokes flows exterior to an open surface (Q1175312)

The three-dimensional velocity field of a viscous incompressible flow outside an open surface \(\Gamma\) is described by Stokes equations together with appropriate boundary conditions. First \(\Gamma\) is completed to a closed surface which decomposes the space \(R^ 3\) into a bounded inner domain \(\Omega\) and an outer domain \(\overline\Omega\). By use of fundamental solutions to the Stokes equations an integral representation of the solution in weighted Sobolev spaces is obtained. This way a continuous extension of the boundary data from \(\Gamma\) to \(\partial\Omega\) is defined so that an inner as well as an outer Stokes problem for \(\Omega\) can be stated. Theorem 2.1 gives an integral representation of the solution and reduces the problem to an integral equation on \(\Gamma\). In Section 3 singularities of the solution are studied, an asymptotic representation near \(\Gamma\) is obtained. In Section 4 boundary elements are described. The surface \(\Gamma\) is approximated by smooth surfaces \(\Gamma_ h\) on which spaces of boundary elements are introduced. Lagrange multipliers are used. It is shown that the corresponding problems on \(\Gamma_ h\) possess unique solutions. Error bounds depending on \(h\) are obtained in Section 5.