A boundary element solution to the soap bubble problem

Abstract The boundary element method (BEM) is applied to the soap bubble problem, that is to the problem of determining the surface that a soap bubble constrained by bounding contours assumes under the action of molecular forces. This is also the shape of a uniformly stretched membrane bounded by one or more non-intersecting curves. As the slopes of the membrane surface are finite, their square can not be neglected and the resulting governing equation is non-linear. The problem is solved using the analogue equation method (AEM). According to this method the non-linear membrane is substituted by a linear one subjected to a fictitious transverse load. The fictitious load is established using the BEM. Numerical examples are presented which illustrate the method and demonstrate its accuracy. This application of the BEM to non-linear problems shows that BEM is a versatile computational method for all-purpose use in engineering analysis. The solution of the problem at hand is very important in engineering, since the soap bubble surface can be used as the best initial form for membrane roofs.