Energy and Finite Element Methods in Structural Mechanics

The first two parts - ''Foundations of Solid Mechanics and Variational Methods'' and ''Structural Mechanics'' - develop a foundation in variational calculus and energy methods before progressing to the third section, which examines the finite element method and its application to stress, plate, torsion, stability, and dynamics problems. Throughout, the book makes finite elements more understandable in terms of fundamentals; provides the background needed to extrapolate the finite element method to areas of study other than solid mechanics; and shows how to derive working equations of structural mechanics through variational principles and to understand the limits of validity of these equations. New to the Second Edition are chapters on matrix methods for trusses, finite element methods for plane stress problems, and finite element methods for plates and elastic stability.