An algorithm for the approximate solution of integral equations of Mellin type (Q1893499)

The cruciform crack problem of elasticity gives rise to an integral equation \[ w(t) - \int^1_0 h(t,s)w(s)ds = f(t)\quad (t \in [0,1]) \] whose kernel \(h\), or the kernel obtained from a suitable transformation of both the independent and the dependent variables, is the sum of a Mellin-type kernel (with a fixed singularity at (0,0)), and a continuous kernel. The authors derive conditions under which the approximate solution, obtained by using the Nyström method based on a modified Euler-Maclaurin quadrature rule, converges to the exact solution \(w\) in a norm equivalent to the uniform norm. The analysis is based on techniques introduced in a recent paper by \textit{R. Kress} [Numer. Math. 58, No. 2, 145-161 (1990; Zbl 0707.65078)]. However, in the present paper the introduction of the ``cut-off'' function near the origin (due to the singularity at (0,0)) is such that the system of linear algebraic equations remains unchanged. A detailed numerical example (with kernel \(h(t,s) = -(4/\pi)ts^2/(t^2 + s^2)^2)\) concludes the paper.