A transform method for the biharmonic equation in multiply connected circular domains

A new transform approach for solving mixed boundary value problems for the biharmonic equation in simply and multiply connected circular domains is presented. This work is a sequel to Crowdy (2015, IMA J. Appl. Math., 80, 1902–1931) where new transform techniques were developed for boundary value problems for Laplace’s equation in circular domains. A circular domain is defined to be a domain, which can be simply or multiply connected, having boundaries that are a union of circular arc segments. The method provides a flexible approach to finding quasi-analytical solutions to a wide range of problems in fluid dynamics and plane elasticity. Three example problems involving slow viscous flows are solved in detail to illustrate how to apply the method; these concern flow towards a semicircular ridge, a translating and rotating cylinder near a wall as well as in a channel geometry