What every engineer should know about computational techniques of finite element analysis

Finite element analysis (FEA) has become the dominant tool of analysis in many industrial fields of engineering, particularly in mechanical and aerospace engineering. This process requires significant computational work divided into several distinct phases. What Every Engineer Should Know About Computational Techniques of Finite Element Analysis offers a concise, self-contained treatment of FEA and all of the tools needed for efficient use and practical implementation. This book provides you with a walk-through of the process from the physical model to the computed solution. Based on the author's thirty years of practical experience in finite element analysis in the shipbuilding, aerospace, and automobile industries, it describes the transformation of the physical problem into a mathematical model, reduction of the model to a more efficient, numerically solvable form, and the solution of the problem using specific computational techniques. The author discusses time and frequency domain solutions as used in practice, as well as the representation of the computed results. This volume serves as a to-the-point guide to using or implementing FEA for both beginners and everyday users who must apply the finite element method to your daily work. The techniques can be easily executed in most available FEA software packages.

Preface. About the Author. List of Figures. List of Tables. Acknowledgements. NUMERICAL MODEL GENERATION. Finite Element Analysis. Finite Element Model Generation. Modeling of Physical Phenomena. Constraints and Boundary Conditions. Singularity Detection of Finite Element Models. COMPUTATIONAL REDUCTION TECHNIQUES. Matrix Factorization and Linear System Solution. Static Condensation. Spectral Computation. Dynamic Reduction. Component Modal Synthesis. ENGINEERING SOLUTION COMPUTATIONS. Modal Solution Technique. Transient Response Analysis. Frequency Domain Analysis. Nonlinear Analysis. Sensitivity and Optimization. Engineering Result Computations. Closing Remarks. Annotation. Index.