The Finite Element Method for Boundary Value Problems: Mathematics and Computations

Written by two well-respected experts in the field, The Finite Element Method for Boundary Value Problems: Mathematics and Computations bridges the gap between applied mathematics and application-oriented computational studies using FEM. Mathematically rigorous, the FEM is presented as a method of approximation for differential operators that are mathematically classified as self-adjoint, non-self-adjoint, and non-linear, thus addressing totality of all BVPs in various areas of engineering, applied mathematics, and physical sciences. These classes of operators are utilized in various methods of approximation: Galerkin method, Petrov-Galerkin Method, weighted residual method, Galerkin method with weak form, least squares method based on residual functional, etc. to establish unconditionally stable finite element computational processes using calculus of variations. Readers are able to grasp the mathematical foundation of finite element method as well as its versatility of applications. h-, p-, and k-versions of finite element method, hierarchical approximations, convergence, error estimation, error computation, and adaptivity are additional significant aspects of this book.

Karan S. Surana attended undergraduate school at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India and received a B.E. in mechanical engineering in 1965. He then attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he obtained M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 1967 and 1970. He joined The University of Kansas, Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty where he is currently serving as Deane E. Ackers University Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering. His areas of interest and expertise are computational mathematics, computational mechanics, and continuum mechanics. He is the author of over 350 research reports, conference papers, and journal papers.

J. N. Reddy is a Distinguished Professor, Regents’ Professor, and inaugural holder of the Oscar S. Wyatt Endowed Chair in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Dr. Reddy earned a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics in 1974 from University of Alabama in Huntsville. He worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Texas Institute for Computational Mechanics (TICOM) at the University of Texas at Austin, Research Scientist for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Huntsville, during l974-75, and taught at the University of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1980, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University from 1980 to 1992, and at Texas A&M University from 1992. Professor Reddy also played active roles in professional societies as the President of USACM, founding member of the General Council of IACM, Secretary of Fellows of AAM, member of the Board of Governors of SES, Chair of the Engineering Mechanics Executive Committee, among several others.