Finite Element Method with Applications in Engineering

3.2 WHAT IS FEM?

In the most numerical methods, the unknown state variables are solved at a discrete number of points in the problem domain considered to obtain approximate solutions. Process of dividing the problem domain into an equivalent system of smaller domains or units and selecting a discrete number of points is called discretization. Once a problem domain is discretized, solution can be obtained for each of the smaller domains or units considered. Finally, such domainwise solutions can be combined together to obtain solution for the entire domain. Hence, the solution is obtained from the approach known as ‘going from part to whole’. Through this approach, analysis is simplified even though large amount of data may have to be handled. ...