Structural Analysis With the Finite Element Method: Linear Statics: Basis and Solids

The two volumes of this work cover most of the theoretical and computational aspects of the linear static analysis of structures with the Finite Element Method (FEM). The content of the book is based on the lecture notes of a basic course on Structural Analysis with the FEM taught by the author at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) in Barcelona, Spain for the last 30 years.Volume 1 presents the basis of the FEM for structural analysis and a detailed description of the finite element formulation for axially loaded bars, plane elasticity problems, axisymmetric solids and general three dimensional solids. Each chapter describes the background theory for each structural model considered, details of the finite element formulation and guidelines for the application to structural engineering problems. The book includes a chapter on miscellaneous topics such as treatment of inclined supports, elastic foundations, stress smoothing, error estimation and adaptive mesh refinement techniques, among others. The text concludes with a chapter on the mesh generation and visualization of FEM results.The book will be useful for students approaching the finite element analysis of structures for the first time, as well as for practising engineers interested in the details of the formulation and performance of the different finite elements for practical structural analysis.