Finite Element analysis

Background

Finite Element Analysis (FEA ) was first introduced by Alexander Hrennikoff in 1941 through his works and by Richard Courant in 1943 through the utilization of the Ritz method of numerical analysis and minimization of variational calculus . The need for solving complex elasticity and structural analysis problems in civil and aeronautical engineering sparked the birth of FEA (Weaver et al , 1973

Hrennikoff and Courant , who used different approaches in their works shared a common characteristic , which discretizes the mesh of a continuous domain into a set of discrete sub-domains called elements

p Hrennikoff used a lattice analogy to discretizes the domain while Courant divided the domain into finite triangular subregions to solve second order elliptic partial differential equations involving problems in the torsion of a cylinder (Solin et al 2003

John Argyris (University of Stuttgart ) and Ray W . Clough (Berkeley began to thoroughly develop the FEA in mid to late 1950s for airframe and structural analysis and in civil engineering . A description of the study , which is wider in scope , and centers on the stiffness and deflection of complex structures ' got published in 1956 by M .J Turner , R . W . Clough , H . C . Martin and L . J . Topp

In 1965 , National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) requested for the development of NASTRAN , a software for finite element . The publication of Strang and Fix 's An Analysis of the Finite Element Method in 1973 provided the method with a rigorous mathematical foundation Since then , it has been established as a branch of...