Introduction to Finite Element Analysis : A Textbook for Engineering Students

This textbook covers the basic concepts and applications of finite element analysis. It is specifically aimed at introducing this advanced topic to undergraduate-level engineering students and practicing engineers in a lucid manner. It also introduces a structural and heat transfer analysis software FEAST^SMT which has wide applications in civil, mechanical, nuclear and automobile engineering domains. This software has been developed by the author and his team at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre/Indian Space Research Organisation. Supported with many illustrative examples, the textbook covers the classical methods of estimating solutions of mathematical models. The book is written in an easy-to-understand manner. This textbook also contains numeral exercise problems to aid self-learning of the students. The solutions to these problems are demonstrated using finite element software. Furthermore, the textbook contains several tutorials and associated online resources on usage of the FEAST^SMT software. Given the contents, this textbook will be highly useful for the undergraduate students of various disciplines of engineering. It will also be a good reference book for the practicing engineers.