A Direct Implementation of a Modified Boundary Integral Formulation for the Extended Fisher-Kolmogorov Equation

This study is concerned with the numerical approximation of the extended Fisher-Kolmogorov equation with a modified boundary integral method. A key aspect of this formulation is that it relaxes the domain-driven approach of a typical boundary element (BEM) technique. While its discretization keeps faith with the second order accurate BEM formulation, its implementation is element-based. This leads to a local solution of all integral equation and their final assembly into a slender and banded coefficient matrix which is far easier to manipulate numerically. This outcome is much better than working with BEM’s fully populated coefficient matrices resulting from a numerical encounter with the problem domain especially for nonlinear, transient, and heterogeneous problems. Faithful results of high accuracy are achieved when the results obtained herein are compared with those available in literature.

Numerical Discrete-Domain Integral Formulations for Generalized Burger-Fisher Equation

In this study we use a boundary integral element-based numerical technique to solve the generalized Burger-Fisher equation. The essential feature of this method is the fundamental integral representation of the solution inside the problem domain by means of both the boundary and domain values. The occurrences of domain integrals within the problem arising from nonlinearity as well as the temporal derivative are not avoided or transferred to the boundary. However, unlike the classical boundary element approach, they are resolved within a finite-element-type discrete domain. The utility and correctness of this formulation are proved by comparing the results obtained herein with closed form solutions.

Numerical Calculations for a Boundary Layer Flow past a Moving Vertical Porous Plate with Suction/Injection and Thermal Radiation

The work presented herein investigates the velocity, heat transfer, Nusselt number and skin friction profiles involved in boundary layer flow past a moving vertical porous plate. Similarity transformations are employed to convert the governing nonlinear unsteady momentum and energy equations from their partial differential equation forms to boundary value ordinary differential equations. The resulting equations are then solved numerically by the Runge-Kutta fourth order method with the help of a shooting technique. Several features of the flow and heat transfer characteristics for different values of problem parameters are analyzed and discussed. These include the effects of the radiation parameter (R), suction and injection parameter (c), Grashof (Gr) and Prandtl (Pr) numbers on the flow and heat profiles. Numerical results show the impact of blowing and sucking as well as radation on boundary layer flows of this type. Both the skin frictions as well as the heat transfer rate are also significantly related to the radiation parameter. For all these cases;the numerical results are found to be in agreement with the physics of the problem.

Simplified Integral Calculations for Radial Fin with Temperature-Dependent Thermal Conductivity

Numerical solution of a radiative radial fin with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity is presented. Calculations are implemented along the lines of a boundary integral technique coupled with domain discretization. Localized solutions of the nonlinear governing differential equation are sought on each element of the problem domain after enforcing inter-nodal connectivity as well as the boundary conditions for the dependent variables. A finite element-type assembly of the element equations and matrix solution yield the scalar profile. Comparison of the numerical results with those found in literature validates the formulation. The effects of such problem parameters as radiation-sink temperature, thermal conductivity, radiation-conduction fin parameter, volumetric heat generation, on the scalar profile were found to be in conformity with the physics of the problem. We also observed from this study that the volumetric heat generation plays a significant role in the overall heat transfer activity for a fin. For relatively high values of internal heat generation, a situation arises where a greater percentage of this energy can not escape to the environment and the fin ends up gaining energy instead of losing it. And the overall fin performance deteriorates. The same can also be said for the radiation-conduction parameter , whose increases can only give physically realistic results below a certain threshold value.

The Effect of Time-Stepping on the Accuracy of Green Element Formulation of Unsteady Convective Transport

Despite the significant number of boundary element method (BEM) solutions of time-dependent problems, certain concerns still need to be addressed. Foremost among these is the impact of different time discretization schemes on the accuracy of BEM modeling. Although very accurate for steady-state problems, the boundary element methods more often than not are computationally challenged when applied to transient problems. For the work reported herein, we investigate the level of accuracy achieved with different time-discretization schemes for the Green element method (GEM) solution of the unsteady convective transport equation. The Green element method (a modified BEM formulation) solves the boundary integral theory (A Fredholm integral equation of the second kind) on a generic element of the problem domain in a way that is typical of the finite element method (FEM). In this integration process a new system of discrete equations is produced which is banded and hence amenable to matrix manipulations. This is subsequently deployed to investigate the proper resolution in both space and time for the chosen transient 1D transport problems especially those involving shock wave propagation and different types of boundary conditions. It is found that for three out of the four numerical models developed in this study, the new system of discrete element equations generated for both space and temporal domains exhibits accurate characteristics even for cases involving advection-dominant transport. And for all the cases considered, the overall performance relies heavily on the temporal discretization scheme adopted.

Application of Optimal Control to the Epidemiology of Dengue Fever Transmission

In this paper, we build an epidemiological model to investigate the dynamics of the spread of dengue fever in human population. We apply optimal control theory via the Pontryagins Minimum Principle together with the Runge-Kutta solution technique to a “simple” SEIRS disease model. Controls representing education and drug therapy treatment are incorporated to reduce the latently infected and actively infected individual populations. The overall thrust is the minimization of the spread of the disease in a population by adopting an optimization technique as a guideline.

Epidemiological Study and Optimal Control for Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in Ethiopia

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an infectious, fatal skin disease of cattle caused by a virus of the family Poxviridae (genus Capripox). In addition, severely affected animals suffer from reduced weight, cessation of milk production and infertility. The aim of this paper is to computationally apply epidemiological (SEIR) and optimal control (OC) techniques to study the transmission and the impact of vaccination on LSD. Based on our numerical experiments, we were able to deduce the overall impact of the optimal strategy adopted for this study on the cattle population for vaccination rates within the range of 0 ≤ v ≤ 0.85. It is shown that the vaccination as a control strategy significantly reduced the effects of LSD on the cattle population if properly managed and that an optimal performance of the control strategy adopted hererin is achieved at an approximate value of v = 0.6.

A Domain-Boundary Integral Treatment of Transient Scalar Transport with Memory

It is well known that the boundary element method (BEM) is capable of converting a boundary- value equation into its discrete analog by a judicious application of the Green’s identity and complementary equation. However, for many challenging problems, the fundamental solution is either not available in a cheaply computable form or does not exist at all. Even when the fundamental solution does exist, it appears in a form that is highly non-local which inadvertently leads to a sys-tem of equations with a fully populated matrix. In this paper, fundamental solution of an auxiliary form of a governing partial differential equation coupled with the Green identity is used to discretize and localize an integro-partial differential transport equation by conversion into a boundary-domain form amenable to a hybrid boundary integral numerical formulation. It is observed that the numerical technique applied herein is able to accurately represent numerical and closed form solutions available in literature.

Incompressible Flow and Heat Transfer over a Plate: A Hybrid Integral Domain-Discretized Numerical Procedure

This work deals with incompressible two-dimensional viscous flow over a semi-infinite plate ac-cording to the approximations resulting from Prandtl boundary layer theory. The governing non-linear coupled partial differential equations describing laminar flow are converted to a self-simi- lar type third order ordinary differential equation known as the Falkner-Skan equation. For the purposes of a numerical solution, the Falkner-Skan equation is converted to a system of first order ordinary differential equations. These are numerically addressed by the conventional shooting and bisection methods coupled with the Runge-Kutta technique. However the accompanying energy equation lends itself to a hybrid numerical finite element-boundary integral application. An appropriate complementary differential equation as well as the Green second identity paves the way for the integral representation of the energy equation. This is followed by a finite element-type discretization of the problem domain. Based on the quality of the results obtained herein, a strong case is made for a hybrid numerical scheme as a useful approach for the numerical resolution of boundary layer flows and species transport. Thanks to the sparsity of the resulting coefficient matrix, the solution profiles not only agree with those of similar problems in literature but also are in consonance with the physics they represent.