Programming the Finite Element Method

Rating:
Summary: A Very Best Book for FE begineers
Review: I believe the 3rd Ed has definitely enhance the purpose of this
celebrate Prog the FEM book by Smith & Griffiths. Up to date, besides the books by Owen & Hinton, this is one of the very best book for begineers in FEM in the "sea" of finite element textbook. In fact, the most powerful about this book is the programs that came with it. Buy it and you'll not regret it.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Best Book for FE begineers
Review: I believe the 3rd Ed has definitely enhance the purpose of this
celebrate Prog the FEM book by Smith & Griffiths. Up to date, besides the books by Owen & Hinton, this is one of the very best book for begineers in FEM in the "sea" of finite element textbook. In fact, the most powerful about this book is the programs that came with it. Buy it and you'll not regret it.

Rating:
Summary: A good introductory book for FEM programming
Review: I must say I agree with the views of `A reader from Seattle', and moreover, I must point out that in such a book one most definitely expects discussion of the optimum way to program the object oriented FEM using Fortran 9x. Instead, the authors only claim that introduction of OO concepts to FEM coding using Fortran 9x is a `matter of taste', which is unlikely to be true, since there are so many publications that emphasize the virtues of such an approach. Considering the fact that Fortran 9x is not fully OO for a number of reasons and thus obviously the C++ versions of FEM codes cannot be directly converted to Fortran 9x, this would have been a most welcome contribution. I have learned that a new edition of the book is due this summer, and I hope that they address this point as well in that edition.

Rating:
Summary: Definitively a workhorse for those involved in FEA.
Review: If you are interested in programming FEA, THIS is the book you have to buy, without any esitation. Non doubt about it. It will teach you how to code FE solvers (I should have bought it two years ago...), how to set up the element stiffenss matrices and so on.
Actually it is oriented toward FORTRAN90. Well, 90% engineering software are written in FORTRAN, anyway it is a minor problem: one can still easily figure out the algorithm from the FORTRAN code. Once you know the algorithm, coding in ANY language you know is easy...I've been programming FORTRAN 90 FEM codes for two years, and I think this book is a must, even as a desktop reference.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This book is an excellent textbook for advanced graduate students as well as the theoretically oriented practitioner with considerable programming experience. However, it should not be considered as a text for a first course in finite elements. Those hoping to learn the fundamentals of the FEM from this text will be disappointed. Other texts, such as Logan's "A First Course in the Finite Element Method," are better suited because of the hand examples along with the step-by-step worked out procedures. Logan's example code is not as powerful as Smith and Griffiths', but is easier to understand for the beginner. Another problem for practitioners is the exclusive use of Fortran 90. Fortran 90 is extremely powerful and may, eventually, save the Fortran language from extinction. However, most practitioners will be almost as unfamiliar with Fortran 90 as they are with C/C++. Additionally, Fortran 90 compilers are relatively expensive compared with C/C++ compi! lers and either will require a steep learning curve. For the student and practitioner with a good background in Finite Element programming and able and willing to invest considerable time and effort, this book will be invaluable. Geomechanic practitioners will find Chapter 6, "Material Nonlinearity," especially useful. Smith and Griffiths have written a very fine book, but not for beginners. The authors should consider writting a true first course in Finite Element programming suitable for the advanced undergraduate or first-year graduate student. If they do so, the two volume series may become the benchmark which defines excellence in FEM textbooks.

Rating:
Summary: best book on programming FEM available in the literature
Review: This is an excellent piece of work demonstrating the use of finite elements. The fortran 90 programs used give a hands on experience to develop finite elements for various applications. In addition to the detailed explanation of finite elements, this text makes you appreciate fortran 90 to build finite elements for real world problems. The coding of modules used repetitively , which is an important element for learning to write code for finite elements,is emphasized. Despite its emphasis on engineering problems, the concepts can easily be used for other fields.