A First Course in Finite Element Analysis

The book endeavors to strike a balance between mathematical and numerical coverage of a wide range of topics in fi nite element analysis. It strives to provide an introduction, especially for undergraduates and graduates, to fi nite element analysis and its applications. Topics include advanced calculus, differential equations, vector analysis, calculus of variations, fi nite difference methods, fi nite element methods and time-stepping schemes. The book also emphasizes the application of important numerical methods with dozens of worked examples. The applied topics include elasticity, heat transfer, and pattern formation. A few self-explanatory Matlab programs provide a good start for readers to try some of the methods and to apply the methods and techniques to their own modelling problems with some modifi cations. The book will perfectly serve as a textbook in fi nite element analysis, computational mathematics, mathematical modelling, and engineering computations.