Manchester Applied Mathematics and Numerical Analysis Seminars Winter 1998

November 4, 1998, 2.30 pm

Lecture Theatre D13 Material Science

Applications of the Boundary Integral Method

Len Gray, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The application of the boundary integral method to problems in materials science and electrochemistry will be described. In the two materials problems, electromigration induced void motion in thin film interconnects and interface instability in re-crystallizing silicon, knowledge of the complete surface stress tensor is required. A new Galerkin approach for evaluating this quantity is presented.

Boundary integral solution of the Laplace equation is being applied to study three industrial electrochemical processes: electroforming, electropainting, and electrospray mass spectrometry. The latter two areas are relatively new projects, and thus the talk will focus mainly on results obtained for a variety of electroforming applications. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop a tool for inverse analysis: design an electroforming cell that will produce the required part.

For further info contact either Matthias Heil (mheil@ma.man.ac.uk), Mark Muldoon (M.Muldoon@umist.ac.uk)or the seminar secretary (Tel. 0161 275 5800).