ABSTRACT
Structural mechanics deals with (1) the idealization of actual structures and their environments and (2) prediction of response, failure, life, and performance of structures. In the last three decades the discipline of computational structural mechanics (CSM) has emerged as an insightful blend between structural mechanics, on the one hand, and other disciplines such as computer science, numerical analysis, and
approximation theory, on the other hand. This rapidly evolving discipline is having a major impact on the development of structures technology, as well as on its application to various engineering systems. Development of the modern finite-element method during the 1950s marks the beginning of CSM. Finiteelement technology is the backbone of many structural analysis software systems which are widely used by government, academia, and industry to solve complex structures problems.
