ABSTRACT
The finite element method made its debut after a series of papers was published by M. J. Turner in 1959. The finite element method is a rich and exciting subject. A modern definition of the finite element method might state that it is simply a numerical technique for obtaining approximate solutions to partial differential equations. The main idea in the finite element method is to discretize or "break up" the domain of interest into a collection of points and subdomains called nodes and elements. The finite element procedure involves three general phases: a pre-processing phase, an analysis phase, and a post-processing phase. For the most part, the analysis phase of the finite element procedure is like feeding the data created in the pre-processing phase into a black box. During the analysis phase, a computer program reads the data and solves a linear system of algebraic equations, either once for linear problems, or many times for nonlinear and/or dynamic problems.
