A one-sweep method for linear elliptic equations over irregular domains

Abstract

The determination of the configuration of equilibrium in a number of problems in mechanics and structures such as torsion, deflection of elastic membranes,etc., involve the solution of variational problems defined over irregular regions. This problem, in turn, may be reduced to the solution of elliptic differential equations subject to boundary conditions. In this paper, we study a method for the solution of such a problem when the region is of irregular shape. The method consists in solving the problem over a larger, imbedding, rectangular domain subject to appropriate constraints such as to satisfy the conditions of the original problem at the boundary. In this paper, we introduce the constraints by considering appropriate factors on the Green's function of the auxiliary problem. A conveniently discretized version of the problem is then treated by invariant imbedding, yielding some earlier results plus some new ones, namely, a direct one-sweep procedure that minimizes storage requirements. In addition, the present solution appears to be very convenient when the solution is required at a limited number of points. The derivations are specialized to Laplace's equation, but the method can be applied readily to general systems of second-order elliptic equations with no essential modifications. Finally, the existence of the necessary matrices in the imbedding equations is established.