Numerical method for solving physical or engineering problems
"Finite element" redirects here. For the elements of a poset, see compact element.
Visualization of how a car deforms in an asymmetrical crash using finite element analysis
Differential equations
Scope
Fields
Natural sciences
Engineering
Astronomy
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Geology
Applied mathematics
Continuum mechanics
Chaos theory
Dynamical systems
Social sciences
Economics
Population dynamics
List of named differential equations
Classification
Types
Ordinary
Partial
Differential-algebraic
Integro-differential
Fractional
Linear
Non-linear
By variable type
Dependent and independent variables
Autonomous
Coupled / Decoupled
Exact
Homogeneous / Nonhomogeneous
Features
Order
Operator
Notation
Relation to processes
Difference (discrete analogue)
Stochastic
Stochastic partial
Delay
Solution
Existence and uniqueness
Picard–Lindelöf theorem
Peano existence theorem
Carathéodory's existence theorem
Cauchy–Kowalevski theorem
General topics
Initial conditions
Boundary values
Dirichlet
Neumann
Robin
Cauchy problem
Wronskian
Phase portrait
Lyapunov / Asymptotic / Exponential stability
Rate of convergence
Series / Integral solutions
Numerical integration
Dirac delta function
Solution methods
Inspection
Method of characteristics
Euler
Exponential response formula
Finite difference (Crank–Nicolson)
Finite element
Infinite element
Finite volume
Galerkin
Petrov–Galerkin
Green's function
Integrating factor
Integral transforms
Perturbation theory
Runge–Kutta
Separation of variables
Undetermined coefficients
Variation of parameters
People
List
Isaac Newton
Gottfried Leibniz
Jacob Bernoulli
Leonhard Euler
Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński
Joseph Fourier
Augustin-Louis Cauchy
George Green
Carl David Tolmé Runge
Martin Kutta
Rudolf Lipschitz
Ernst Lindelöf
Émile Picard
Phyllis Nicolson
John Crank
v
t
e
The finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat transfer, fluid flow, mass transport, and electromagnetic potential.
The FEM is a general numerical method for solving partial differential equations in two or three space variables (i.e., some boundary value problems). To solve a problem, the FEM subdivides a large system into smaller, simpler parts called finite elements. This is achieved by a particular space discretization in the space dimensions, which is implemented by the construction of a mesh of the object: the numerical domain for the solution, which has a finite number of points.
The finite element method formulation of a boundary value problem finally results in a system of algebraic equations. The method approximates the unknown function over the domain.[1]
The simple equations that model these finite elements are then assembled into a larger system of equations that models the entire problem. The FEM then approximates a solution by minimizing an associated error function via the calculus of variations.
Studying or analyzing a phenomenon with FEM is often referred to as finite element analysis (FEA).
^Daryl L. Logan (2011). A first course in the finite element method. Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780495668275.
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