Motivation for the Finite Element Method

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Abstract

The approach to the finite element method can be derived from different motivations. Essentially there are three ways:

  • a rather descriptive way, which has its roots in the engineering working method,

  • a physical or

  • mathematically motivated approach.

Depending on the perspective, different formulations result, which however all result in a common principal equation of the finite element method. The different formulations will be elaborated in detail based on the following descriptions:

  • matrix methods,

  • physically based working and energy methods and

  • weighted residual method.

The finite element method is used to solve different physical problems. Here solely finite element formulations related to structural mechanics are considered [1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12].
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Applied MechanicsUniversity of Technology Malaysia—UTMSkudaiMalaysia
  2. 2.Department of Mechanical EngineeringAalen University of Applied SciencesAalenGermany

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