Extending the Exponential Basis Functions Meshless Method to Solve Singular Plate Problems

Existence of singular points inside the solution domain or on its boundary deteriorates the accuracy and convergence rate of numerical methods. This phenomenon usually happens due to discontinuities in the boundary conditions or abrupt changes in the domain shape. This study has focused on the solution of singular plate problems using the exponential basis functions method. In this method, unknown functions are considered as a linear combination of exponential basis functions and the coefficients are calculated by approximate satisfaction of the boundary conditions. To increase the accuracy and convergence rate in problems with singular points, a series of singular, quasi-exponential functions are added to the method’s exponential basis functions. These functions have proper discontinuity in location of the singular points and satisfy the homogenous differential equation. The results obtained from the solution of three cracked plate problems show considerable increase in the accuracy and convergence rate of the proposed method compared with the exponential basis functions method without any noticeable increase in the computational cost.