Book Description
This book has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect developments since the third edition, with an emphasis on structural mechanics. Coverage is up-to-date without making the treatment highly specialized and mathematically difficult. Basic theory is clearly explained to the reader, while advanced techniques are left to thousands of references available, which are cited in the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Good
The book is very good for beginers in FEM. It doesn't go very much into details.

Great
It explains the the hard concepts in a nice way. But the material covers the great extent of FEA.

It is good for reference.

Murat Surucu

Another student prospective
The comments left are interesting in that all the people teaching from it find it useful, and all the students find it frustrating...there is a trend here!

I agree that the explanations are great in detail and the content practical, but at a graduate level with minimal support from the professor and no TA available, not having examples or solutions (to the odds or evens at the very least) is infuriating.After spending close to $100 for this text, I had to go out to buy another with some problems to make it through my course.Two stars for readability, will pile the other three onto the review for my other text.

If a professor recommends this book for his course, my suggestion would be to go talk to some fellow students who have already taken the course to be sure you know what you are signing up for!

A collection of papers at best
I am a graduate student of solid mechanics and I have read quite a few books on FEA. Of all the textbooks I have read-this is clearly the worst. The authors don't spend any time to make the material coherent and organized. They seem to have published this book just for the sake of establishing their names in the field. It is basically a collection of research papers on the subject. The worst part of the book is that the authors use excessive verbiage to describe extremely inportant concepts with little or no mathematics. This leaves the readers confused and disoriented. This book is not for those looking for an introductory text and is useless to even those experienced in the field. Avoid this book.

Not an undergraduage text
This book was used to 'introduce' us to finite element analysis.To say the least, the book is very hard to follow.For an undergraduate text book, I don't recommend it at all.The problems are very difficult and assume you have a lot of knowledge on other subjects.Also there are close to no examples.This would be a great book for graduate classes or those seriously interested in the theory, but not for the intro introductory class, unless you have a super great professor.Because of my bad experience with the book, and how I found it difficult to grasp, I give it only two stars. ... Read more

Product Description
Practical Stress Analysis with Finite Elements is an ideal introductory text for newcomers to finite element analysis who wish to learn how to use FEA. Unlike many other books which claim to be at an introductory level, this book does not weigh the reader down with theory but rather provides the minimum amount of theory needed to understand how to practically perform an analysis using a finite element analysis software package. Newcomers to FEA generally want to learn how to apply FEA to their particular problem and consequently the emphasis of this book is on practical FE procedures. The information in this book is an invaluable guide and reference for both undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students and for practising engineers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent, A must have for anyone trying to learn FEA!
I have to do a lot of finite element modelling as part of my Ph.D. studies so I was searching for a book that took me from the basics and helped me to build models relevant to my research. I went through many other books before recently finding this one. All the other books I tried didn't actually tell you how to build a FEA model they just showed a load of maths and equations. After reading the other books I was still unable to do the most basic analysis required for my research.

There are a lot of very bad FEA books out there, however, this book is the exception! There is loads of information given and most of my questions were answered either in the main text or in the case study examples. The book starts out by giving an introduction to FEA, what it is and why is useful etc. The second chapter is a summary of stress analysis and is very useful. I found myself referring back to it several times as I read through the rest of the book and my software help manual.
The third chapter is where this book really comes into its own: a method for helping you pick each facet of your model is given. It's really practical, problem solving stuff, which really helped me out. After going through the method suggested I could easily build basic models of my research problem.

The rest of the chapters cover aspects of the FEA process in detail, such as element types and choices, material models - what they do and when to use them, boundary conditions and loads - which are the best to use in particular situations, how to set up the solution and how to fix the model if it breaks down.

The final chapter contains nine case studies/examples which go through various types of analysis in detail. They range from fairly basic beam models right up to non-linear type analysis using contact etc. These case studies are absolutely excellent!

Without question this is the best book on FEA currently available! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (15)

Don't buy it
I wanted a complete book in FEA to start learning about it.I expected this book to be clear, practical, complete, with a good amount of practical examples showing how to use the theory, that is complex by itself.I also wanted some sort of reference to a computer program so that I could start using to simplify my life.I work at a Company and I don't havetoo much time.This book is not for me.I

Great Book in Finite Element Analysis
This book was written in a simple but mathematical language. It is not intended for first timers and/or for people without a good support in mathematics.
Good for stablishing routines and procedures if you are willing to create your own brand new program. But also good if you are willing to use the routine that the authors wrote. You can find them at: http://www.zace.com/afdlearn.html

Have a good time reading and working with Finite Elements as I am doing.

The Finite Element Method : Linear Static and Dynamic Finite Element Analysis
The service is excellent, the price of the book is according to the product, the content is good. I live in Chihuahua, Mexico and I am very satisfied.

An excellent book on FEM for graduates or professionals
The Finite Element Methodology though conceptually simple (eat the elephant by chopping it up into mouthfuls), becomes somewhat involved when applied, because the of tricks used to get solutions, after all you still may have to solve 100,000 PDEs to get your approximate solution to an otherwise intractable problem. So in its own way FEM can become a bit of a pachyderm itself.

This book is very good, but be aware that this book is aimed at graduate physical-science/engineering students. This means that you know how to solve basic second order differential equations and understand how to perform path integrals for example.

This book is aimed at people who would like to be able to write their own FEM solver. If you are looking to gain some backgrounding in how to construct finite element models using a program to solve problems, this book is probably much more than you need. You might want to try the "Schaum's Outline of Finite Element Analysis" if this is your objective.

DLearn is available from the www.zace.com/dlearn.htm or by typing
"Dlearn program"
into google and following the link.

Response to Sylmar, CA reviewer
The reviewer who said that the software is not available from the ZACE website is incorrect.Go towww.zace.comand click on "Home Page."There you will be able to download DLEARN for free in addition to a
C++ finite element code. ... Read more

Book Description
If you want top grades and thorough understanding of finite element analysis, this powerful study tool is the best tutor you can have! It takes you step-by-step through the subject and gives you accompanying related problems with fully worked solutions. You also get additional problems to solve on your own, working at your own speed. (Answers at the back show you how youÕre doing.) Famous for their clarity, wealth of illustrations and examplesÑand lack of dreary minutiaeÑSchaumÕs Outlines have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. This guide will show you why! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Worthless - too bad no Zero Stars.
Worthless. My class used Reddy's latest FEA book, and the teacher was pretty good with his supplemental notes - meaning they went well with Reddy's book. This book is outdated. I couldn't use to help with any of the hw problems. My advice is to "Search Inside", look at it with Google Books, or better yet find one at a bookstore somewhere and compare to your class text before buying. I've used a few Schaum's before and this is by far the worst (least helpful).

Study Aid
The whole Schuams series is an excellent way to refresh your various math skills, and is also a good introduction to any new concepts.

Good Elementary Book
It is a good primer book for the newby in Finite Element Analysis. It has good and clear simple examples

Schaum's on FEA Needs to be Updated
Schaum's Outline on Finite Element Analysis was a valuable and important source at the time it was first published in 1995.However, in the intervening 11 years, this field has advanced rapidly, and the material in Professor Buchanan's otherwise excellent outline is now seriously dated.

The outline is still useful for some purposes, but anyone who is looking for a brief introduction and overview of FEA as it is done today will be disappointed or even misled if they depend only on this outline.

On the other hand, the outline does provide a number of useful supplementary problems that may help students who are learning to employ modern FEA software and need to build their understanding of the fundamental ideas behind these methods.

Don't waste your money with other books
Don't waste your money buying those hardcover books on Finite Element Method. If you wanna learn this subject soon this is the right book. Beside it you should study the book "An Introduction to Finite Element Method" by J. N. Reddy. ... Read more

Book Description
This new text, intended for the senior undergraduate finite element course in mechanical, civil and aerospace engineering departments, gives students a solid, practical understanding of the principles of the finite element method within a variety of engineering applications.

Hutton discusses basic theory of the finite element method while avoiding variational calculus, instead focusing upon the engineering mechanics and mathematical background that may be expected of senior engineering students. The text relies upon basic equilibrium principles, introduction of the principle of minimum potential energy, and the Galerkin finite element method, which readily allows application of finite element analysis to nonstructural problems.

The text is software-independent, making it flexible enough for use in a wide variety of programs, and offers a good selection of homework problems and examples.

A Book Website is also included, with book illustrations for class presentation; complete problem solutions (password protected); the FEPC 2-D finite element program for student use; instructions on FEPC and its use with the text; and links to commercial FEA sites. ... Read more

Book Description
The first edition of this successful text considered nonlinear geometrical behavior and nonlinear hyperelastic materials, and the numerics needed to model such phenomena. By presenting both nonlinear continuum analysis and associated finite element techniques in one, Bonet and Wood provide, in the new edition of this successful text, a complete, clear, and unified treatment of these important subjects. New chapters dealing with hyperelastic plastic behavior are included, and the authors have thoroughly updated the FLagSHyP program, freely accessible at www.flagshyp.com. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent book
Bonet and Wood have written an excellent book. I thank them for
writing such a wonderful book. Every student who wants to learn nonlinear mechanics should have this book. I am saying this because
I am also a student and I know what a student expects from a book.

nice introduction to nonlinear elasticity
The book is a nice pedagogic introduction to nonlinear elasticity. It lays out the principles clearly supported with good examples, something you won`t be able to find in many other books.
Some previous reviews criticizes the book for not covering anisotropy or plasticity, but the book is simply intended to cover the principles of large deformation elasticity. From that point of view, anisotropy is a case where you have the same formulas but more constants. And plasticity, as the name reveals, is NOT elasticity. There are plenty of plasticity models out there and interested reader should find the proper source for those. Unlike what a previous reviewer says, hyperelasticity is NOT "exceedengly simple", and is a fairly general form of elasticity. It is widely used in many engineering materials and covered in detail in this book.

Good book and a gentle introduction to solid mechanics
Good book and gentle introduction to computational and theoretical aspects of nonlinear solid mechanics with large deformation. I downloaded also the code mentioned, and it isgreat fun playing with it.

Does a good job with the fundamentals
This book does well with the principles of finite deformation. From its first few chapters which enter into the preliminaries of finite deformation to its final chapters which transform the theory of finite deformation into a workable finite element code. If you are interested in going from the theory to the finite element code, this book is for you. The book uses a finite deformation (hyperelastic and isotropic) finite element code to teach you all of the subroutines required. The book references a website where you can download the source code. The only major weakness of the book is the fact that the book ultimately assumes an isotropic material to carry the theory forward.

Very Good Starting Point to Nonlinear Analysis
This is a very good introductory book to the subject of nonlinearcontinuum mechanics focusing on finite element applications. It fills thegap existing among different books treating this subject. The approach toDirectional Derivative is quite general and very interesting. I wouldrecommend this book for a first course in Nonlinear Continuum Mechanics. ... Read more

Book Description

Shell structures are found abundantly in engineering designs and are routinely analyzed with finite element methods. The objective of this book is to present, in a unified manner, modern finite element procedures for general shell analysis. The first chapters introduce the basic concepts for the analysis of shells, explain the mathematical preliminaries, and discuss the mathematical models of plates and shells including their asymptotic properties. The following chapters deal with finite element discretization methods for plates and shells. At the end of the book, applications of these methods in modern engineering practice are described and an overview of nonlinear shell analysis is given.

Customer Reviews (11)

A thought-provoking treatise
It is an understatement to call this book excellent! Development of robust and reliable computational techniques for shell analysis continues to be a most challenging task. The level of profundity offered by this book on this traditional topic is truly astounding. Mathematical analysis has been wonderfully intertwined with engineering judgement. The presentation is brief and compact with an emphasis on mathematical rigor.

finite element analysis of shells in depth
This is the first (and only) book I have come across which gives a deep and comprehensive analysis of finite element methods for shell structures.The authors take a mathematical approach to the problem, and do a very nice job.Traditionally, finite element procedures for shells have been formulated intuitively hence resulting in mixed success.Mathematical analyses of finite element formulations give a deeper and meaningful insight into the underlying mathematical theory and the reasons why some formulations perform much better than others.This deeper mathematical understanding in turn gives better insight into the physical behaviour of shells as limiting cases are approached (i.e thin shells etc.).Research in finite element analysis, including shells, is very much alive and still has a lot of potential.This book is very valuable for people who want to dig further into mathematical aspects of finite element formulations, and are not just content with "coding" an existing formulation.This is not a "recipe" book, but a book which teaches you how to come up with new, mathematically consistent and meaningful formulations.

Useless for most people
The book is probably good for researchers.It is however not suitable for beginners or practitioners.

An important reference for shell structure mechanics
This book clearly explains shell structure mechanics from a mathematical and practical perspective. As a practicing engineer and finite element user, I found it extremely useful and easy to understand. This is also an invaluable reference for graduate students in applied mechanics. I think it will be a classic reference in that field.

An excellent book on Shells
This is an excellent book for anybody interested in the analysis of shells. It uniquely presents the physical and mathematical aspects of shell behavior, and their finite element analysis. I believe this book is a MUST for researchers and practioners. ... Read more

Book Description
This book presents the theory and computer implementation of the finite element method as applied to nonlinear problems of heat transfer and similar field problems, fluid mechanics (flows of incompressible fluids), and solid mechanics (elasticity, beams and plates). Both geometric as well as material nonlinearities are considered, and static and transient (i.e. time-dependent) responses are studied. Although there exist a number of books on nonlinear finite elements that serve as good references for engineers who are familiar with the subject and wish to learn advanced topics or the latest developments, there is currently no book which is suitable as a textbook for a first course on nonlinear finite element analysis. This book fills the void in the market, providing a clear understanding of the concepts of nonlinear finite element analyses through detailed theoretical formulations and computer implementation steps, examples and exercises. In addition, the book serves as a prelude to more advanced books on the subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

classic
There is this one thing I know. When you are learning from a superior intelligence you can find that out pretty quick. My greed for calculus and math finds an apt expression here. The way he presents non linear finite elements is unparalled.

There is another thing I have learnt. The people who can explain things clearly, are the ONLY ones who know it. And they are not too many, when it comes to horribly complicated problems, besides. Math cuts out a lot of verbiage, in understanding a problem. A simple math problem when described in words could go on and on and on. If you have a apetite for calculus and a craving for numerical analysis, you would be a poorer man if you didnt have this book. If you dont, well you are not good enough to pick up finite elements anyhow, forget about non linear analysis.

One small note. This is just pertinent to me. I dont write code in fortran so parts of the book were not of much use to me. But the concept is laid out very well. I would have loved it if the code was in C++. But its okay. If I were to just copy code, that would be shabby learning anyhow. So it works out fine. ... Read more

Product Description
An essential guide for design engineers who use the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) during the product development process, this book turns the FEA into a productivity tool that will help to avoid costly and potentially dangerous mistakes. During the 50 years of its development, FEA evolved from an exotic analysis method accessible only to specialized analysts into a mainstream engineering tool. Phenomenal progress in computer hardware and operating systems combined with similar progress in computer-aided design made FEA the tool of choice for design engineers, who now use it during the product design process. Many books have been written about FEA, however very little FEA literature takes a middle ground approach and specifically addresses the needs of design engineers who use FEA as an everyday design tool. This book attempts to fill that void by focusing on an understanding of FEA fundamentals, which are explained through simple and intuitive examples that can be used by any engineer. This book also takes a practical approach, characteristic to the attitudes of design engineers, and offers readers an opportunity to try all discussed topics by solving downloadable exercises using either their own FEA software or the commercial FEA software StressCheck®, which is licensed for free to readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Excellent Introductory Users Guide to FEA
This is basically a non-mathematical treatment of finite element analysis (FEA) that gives the reader an overall understanding of what it is and can do for them as well as general rules of how to use an FEA application. The book is a kind of a users guide for the novice on how to setup, solve, and interpret the results of a problem using commercial FEA software. The author discusses proper methodology and common pitfalls to avoid. The design or project engineer with mechanical design responsiblities and little previous knowledge of FEA will likely benefit most from reading this book. Experienced users of commercial FEA code(s) or analysts will likely find this text of little practical benefit. ... Read more

Book Description
Non-linear Finite Element Analysis of Solids and Structures Volume 2: Advanced Topics M. A. Crisfield Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK In such fields as aeronautical, civil, mechanical and structural engineering, non-linear analysis techniques are becoming widely used for the solution of practical engineering problems. Taking an engineering rather than a mathematical bias, this comprehensive book builds on the fundamental ideas explained in Volume One, introducing the reader to more detailed, advanced topics. Large strains and large rotations, plasticity with a range of yield criteria and hardening rules, stability theory and advanced solution procedures including branch-switching techniques, contact and friction, and nonlinear dynamics, are covered in depth. Examples from a non-linear finite element computer program incorporating the advanced solution procedures are included. The computer program is available on the Internet via anonymous ftp, using the URL ftp://ftp.cc.ic.ac.uk/pub/depts/aero/nonlin2/. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Study
Crisfield's first and second books are excellent sources for anyone from different disiplines. His success can be attributed to explaining the materials in their simple forms and to his notations that is easy to follow. Starting from 1D nonlinear truss elements to 3D beam-column elements, all concepts are explained in a similar way so once you are into it, it is easy to follow the text. I mostly studied his work on finite rotations, and arc-length algorithms.

Non-linear FEM for mere mortals.
Very elegantly written with excellent notation. Brings the implementaion of things like co-rotational FEM programming within the grasp of people with a mere engineering background. I especially liked the chapter on largerotations. ... Read more

Book Description
While many authors cover the theory of finite element modeling, this is the only book available that incorporates ANSYS as an integral part of its content. Moaveni presents the theory of finite element analysis, explores its application as a design/modeling tool, and explains in detail how to use ANSYS intelligently and effectively.Now uses Excel in solving simple finite element problems. Adds a significant number of new problems. Incorporates the latest version of ANSYS throughout.A useful reference for mechanical, civil and environmental engineers.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Finite Element Analysis: Theory and Applications with ANSYS
This is a basis book for Finite Element Analysis. Also buy a book in Amazon is a fantastic guarantee of service.

Worst Book Ever!!!
We are at chapter 13 now and I now know that the book do not provide good fundamentals nor details to understand what FEA is all about. Tutorials are useless because they do not explain anything what's going on. You just must figure it out yourself. This is OK for secondary book. But don't expect to understand it without any other help. Choppy steps for the solution in the examples!

I love this book!
I can't imagine my learning process of FEA without this book.It's really good and comprenhensive.It is nice to read and it provides clear explanations to difficult topics.I believe this is a must have!

Fantastic intro to FEA
This book provides a great intro to FEA in general befor eit actually starts ANSYS Tutorial. The book is strictly for beginners .It contains very less details on Batch files ,nonlinear problems etc.

Good intro, but does not go far enough
I bought this book hoping it would make my job of developing a finiteelement model using ANSYS easier. But I did not learnmuch of anything newfrom this book. I was already familiarwith finite element theory and alsotook the intro to ansyscourse offered by ANSYS. I had hoped that thisbook would gobeyond what was offered by these two sources, but sadly itdoes not. Still, for the beginner who knows next to nothing of f.e. methodsand ANSYS this is probably helpful. ... Read more

Book Description
Designing structures using composite materials poses unique challenges due especially to the need for concurrent design of both material and structure. Students are faced with two options: textbooks that teach the theory of advanced mechanics of composites, but lack computational examples of advanced analysis; and books on finite element analysis that may or may not demonstrate very limited applications to composites. But now there is third option that makes the other two obsolete: Ever J. Barbero's Finite Element Analysis of Composite Materials.By layering detailed theoretical and conceptual discussions with fully developed examples, this text supplies the missing link between theory and implementation. In-depth discussions cover all of the major aspects of advanced analysis, including three-dimensional effects, viscoelasticity, edge effects, elastic instability, damage, and delamination. More than 50 complete examples using mainly ANSYS, but also including some use of MATLAB®, demonstrate how to use the concepts to formulate and execute finite element analyses and how to interpret the results in engineering terms. Additionally, the source code for each example is available for download online.Cementing applied computational and analytical experience to a firm foundation of basic concepts and theory, Finite Element Analysis of Composite Materials offers a modern, practical, and versatile classroom tool for today's engineering classroom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Highly recommended
The new book by Professor Ever J. Barbero, is a very useful additionto the library of any specialist or student in the area of Composites. It contains in 10 Chapters (Mechanics of Orthotropic Materials; Introduction to the Finite Element Method; Elasticity and Strength ofLaminates; Buckling; Free Edge stresses; Computational Micromechanics; Viscoelasticity; Damage mechanics; Damage Model for Fiber Reinforced Composites; Delaminations) very well organized information, enriched by the author's experience in teaching and research. The formulation for each subject is presented together with useful information on numerical implementation, and a fair number of examples and proposed problems.The book is excellent both for course reading or self study.Finite Element Analysis of Composite Materials

Comprehensive and useful
The book is an excellent text of composite materials analysis for graduate students and practising engineers. After an initial introduction to stress analysis and to finite element method the chapters introduce to the reader how to model composites with FE codes.

Each chapter is about different aspects or mechanisms that appear in composites (buckling, laminates, failure criteria, delamination, damage, micromechanics, etc.). The text mixes the theory with very useful examples. The examples permit to assimilate concepts (for the student). Also the examples become an perfect guideline to solve actual problems (for the engineer or the professional).

Therefore, the text provides a practical framework that allow the reader to improve and learn in several aspects: FE modelling, composites, ... and, also, to learn how to implement engineering problems in ANSYS and MatLab.The book is completed with the facilities and software that the author have available in the web site of the book [...] with source code of examples, solutions of the problems for instructor's, and videos to help the reader to implement the examples in ANSYS whit the Graphic Interface User. ... Read more

Book Description
Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Theory; Chapter 2: A Summary of the Theory; Chapter 3: Approximation; Chapter 4: Variational Crimes; Chapter 5: Stability; Chapter 6: Eigenvalue Problems; Chapter 7: Initial-Value Problems; Chapter 8: Singularities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A classic
If you're a numerical analyst or an engineer interested in the basic theory of the finite element method, this book belongs on your shelf.If you have no interest in finite elements but enjoy well-written mathematical literature, this book still belongs on your shelf.Though some sections are dated, the contents of this book remain a solid foundation for understanding the behavior of finite element techniques in theory and in practice.Furthermore, while the contents are mathematically rigorous, the authors largely avoid the theorem/lemma/proof of most mathematical books, and instead describe the analysis in an almost conversational tone.Reading Strang and Fix reminds me of reading Lanczos: the book is dense with ideas which are both mathematically and practically interesting, but the presentation is so smooth that one can almost read it as one reads a novel. ... Read more

Book Description

Although finite element courses have become more popular in the undergraduate and graduate engineering, science, and applied mathematics curricula, there are very few introductory textbooks geared toward students accustomed to using computers for everyday assignments and research. 'An Introduction to Linear and Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis' fills this gap, offering a concise, integrated presentation of methods, applications, computational software tools, and hands-on programming projects. Suitable for junior/senior undergraduate and first-year graduate courses, the book is aimed at students from a variety of disciplines: engineering, physics, geophysics, and applied mathematics.

Unlike existing texts designed with specific applications to a particular field of mechanical, civil, or chemical engineering, the emphasis here is on interdisciplinary applications. One- and two-dimensional linear and nonlinear initial/boundary value problems are solved using finite element, Newton's, and conjugate gradient methods.Mathematical theory is kept to a minimum, making the text accessible to students with varied backgrounds.

Features:

* Software tools using Mathematica, Matlab, Fortran, and commercial finite element codes, such as Ansys, integrated throughout the text

Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect introduction to FEA for structures
Over the years, it has been my own experience that most books about finite element analysis do not excel in their ability to teach without undo effort on the part of the reader.Perhaps the same can be said for engineering texts in general.In contrast to this regrettable norm, Dr. Yang's book is a pedagogically sound work that is perfectly suited for undergraduate engineering students, or for those interested in self study.Explanations are resoundingly clear and thorough, as are its many example problems.

From a purely techical point of view, the book really excels in its coverage of higher-order and special-purpose beam elements.These include nonuniform and curved elements, as well as special elements designed to address buckling and large deflection problems.The author skillfully uses several examples to quantify and comparethese different elements with regard to accuracy and efficiency.This information is both interesting and useful.Finally, detailed mass-matrix formulations are provided that enable accurate solutions to free-vibration and other transient problems.

Other element types and formulations are also presented in some detail.These include membrane, plate, tetrahedral, hexahedral and axisymmetric solid, and finally several isoparametric variants.The book is then rounded out nicely with four computer programs:

1)Static analysis of plane truss and plane frame structures.
2)Free-vibration analysis of plane truss and plane frame structures.
3)Static analysis using six-degree-of-freedom triangular plane stress and plane strain finite elements.
4)Static analysis using sixteen-degree-of-freedom rectangular plate finite elements in bending.

Unfortunately, a CDROM was not issued with the book at the time of its publication in the late 1980's.Instead, fortran source code is printed at the end of the book, along with instructions to contact the author for a disk, if necessary.According to Purdue's website, Dr. Yang still teaches as an adjunct professor at its Aerospace Engineering Dept.The following contact number was listed: (765) 494-5117.

Despite the book's modest age (copyright 1986), all its material remains completely relevant.For this reason and those given above, I wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Yang's commendable work to those looking for an introductory text - even in the year 2007.
... Read more

Product Description
with limited node version of NEi Nastran Finite Element Analysis software on CD and a Compendium of 13 Tutorial Lessons. In product design, knowledge is power. And Nastran, the most recognized name in analysis software, provides the engineering insight needed for innovation, exceptional quality, and the compressed design cycle time essential to market leaders. Acquire the skills and know how of modern simulation technology. You can explore and learn on your own in a convenient comprehensive manner, professional level finite element analysis (FEA) as currently practiced by leading product development corporations in industry. We are offering the 587 page Vince Adams book Building Better Products with Finite Element Analysis along with a software CD that contains our full functioning NEiModeler, 300-node limited Nastran Solver Modules (L1-L5), and a series of thirteen tutorials with models that illustrate key analysis topics including, Linear Statics, Modal Analysis, NonLinear Analysis, Dynamics, and Heat Transfer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

A must have!
This book is a must have for every engineer who is doing, or wants to do, Finite Element Analysis.It is written clearly with great examples.The authors should be congratulated for writing such an extensive and useful book.Nice to see a book like this grounded in reality vs. only the theoretical.

Great for Managers
If you are an engineer, skip it and do real work.It is general, basic, and lacks real knowledge. This is not a reference book, nor is it a teaching book. However, if you are an engineering manager overseeing a group conducing FEA analysis, this book will help you.It is full of wonderful insight, such as:"FEA can help build a better, more robust product".These blinding flashes of the obvious will keep most real engineers at arm's length.If I had a chance to do it again, I would not purchase this book.

This book is so BAD that forced me to write this review
The Title is very appealing, but a book on this subject still is to be written. For us Engineers, I understand the need to have a more practical FEA book other than mathematical "roll over". This may explain the "must have" comments from previous reviews. It's overpriced, "xerox" like printing and way vague. Sorry to not offer another Title on this subject, but this book not even for beginners.

A must have for any FE analyst
If you are wanting to do any FEA work, then this is a book that you should have by your computer.Written by engineers for engineers, it takes a straight forward approach to FEA.It starts with a basic review of the theory behind FEA, but then goes into the knowledge necessary to do a good analysis.It discusses all aspects of FEA, from it's accuracy and what types of error there are, to advanced modeling techniques.Equally good for the beginning FE user to the expert analyst.

A Good Overview, but Wordy and Lacking in Specifics
If there is one word in the English language to describe this overpriced paperback, it's "verbose". As I read the book, I kept saying to myself "yada, yada, yada...when are we going to get to specifics?". Don't get me wrong...there is useful information in this book. And I applaud its focus on the practical aspects of DOING finite element analysis, rather than all the rigorous mathematics that is the overriding theme in way too many texts. But unless you are completely new at FEA, I think you will find that the authors often repeat themselves and state the obvious. The book is 587 pages, but could easily be made half as large by removing all the fluff. While there are a number of examples given, the book could be improved by using more and better examples that focus on specifics, rather than generalities. ... Read more