A spectral boundary element approach to three-dimensional Stokes flow

A novel method is introduced for solving the three-dimensional Stokes equations via a spectral element approach to the boundary integral method. The accuracy and convergence of the method are illustrated through applications involving rigid particles, deformable droplets and interacting particles. New physical results are obtained for two applications in low Reynolds number flow: the permeability of periodic models of a porous membrane and the instability of a toroidal droplet subject to non-axisymmetric perturbations. Further applications are described in the companion paper (Higdon & Muldowney 1995).