AbstractIn this paper, a sufficient condition for transforming domain integrals into boundary integral is described. The transformation is accomplished by Green's and Gauss' theorems. It is shown that a wide range of domain integrals including some integrals in boundary element method satisfy this sufficient condition and can be simply transformed into boundary. Although emphasis is made on potential and elastostatic problems, this method can also be used for many other applications. Using the present method, a wide range of 2D and 3D domain integrals over simply or multiply connected regions can be transformed exactly into the boundary. The resultant boundary integrals are numerically evaluated using an adaptive version of the Simpson integration method. Several examples are provided to show the efficiency and accuracy of the present method. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.