A BEM formulation using B-splines: I-uniform blending functions

Abstract This work develops a new element formulation for boundary element analysis using uniform cubic B-splines. These functions can be employed to provide higher degrees of continuity along the geometric boundary of the region, and also as interpolation functions for the problem variables. Applications are presented related to potential problems governed by Laplace's equation but there are no restrictions in the formulation regarding its extension to other physical problems.