Concise Overview of the Finite Element Method

This book presents a straightforward introduction to the finite element method, error analysis, and adaptive refinement. It provides an easy-to-read overview that allows the contents of other finite element books and finite element courses to be seen in perspective as the various procedures are encountered. Furthermore, it provides developments that improve the procedures contained in the standard finite element textbook. As a result, when this book is used alone or in conjunction with other presentations, the reader is capable of critically assessing the capabilities of the finite element method.

John O. Dow has extensive of experience with computational mechanics as an automotive engineer, an aerospace engineer, and a professor of structural engineering and structural mechanics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He and his graduate students have authored many articles in the area of computational mechanics. His graduate students are employed as software engineers, bridge designers, offshore structure designers, aerospace engineers, forensic engineers, and professors of structural engineering.