Volume 1 presents the basis of the FEM for structural analysis and a detailed description of the finite element formulation for axially loaded bars, plane elasticity problems, axisymmetric solids and general three dimensional solids. Each chapter describes the background theory for the structural model considered, details of the finite element formulation and guidelines for the application to structural engineering problems.
The book includes a chapter on miscellaneous topics such as treatment of inclined supports, elastic foundations, stress smoothing, error estimation and adaptive mesh refinement techniques, among others. The text concludes with a chapter on the mesh generation and visualization of FEM results and a chapter introducing the main concepts for programming the FEM using MatLab.
The book will be useful for students approaching the finite element analysis of structures for the first time, as well as for practising engineers interested in the details of the formulation and performance of the finite element method for practical structural analysis and design.