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Finite elements: theory, fast solvers, and applications in solid mechanics [Book
and Web reviews]

Article  in  Computing in Science and Engineering · April 1999

DOI: 10.1109/MCISE.1999.753051 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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BOOK AND WEB REVIEWS
Editors: Susan McKay, rps352@maine.maine.edu
Stratis Gallopoulos, stratis@hpclab.ceid.upatras.gr
Send announcements to jferrero@computer.org
FINITE ELEMENTS: THEORY, FAST SOLVERS,
AND APPLICATIONS IN SOLID MECHANICS
Reviewed by Nikolaos Aravas
Finite Elements: Theory, Fast Solvers, and Applications in Solid Mechanics,
Dietrich Braess, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1997, 323 pp.,
ISBN 0-521-58187-7, soft cover, $28.95.
T his fascinating book deals with
the mathematical aspects of the
finite element method. Engineers de-
veloped the FEM in the early 1960s to
solve structural mechanics problems—
it was based initially on energy theo-
rems applicable to elastic structures.
Soon, engineers realized that they could
extend the initial methodology to cover
the numerical solution of general par-
tial-differential equations. This method
attracted the attention of mathemati-
cians, who studied its mathematical as-
pects and developed a rigorous basis for
it. Even though many scientific papers
deal with the method’s mathematical as-
pects, a vast majority of books deal with
the FEM approach from an “engineer-
ing” point of view and focus on its prac-
tical aspects. Braess’s book presents the
FEM as a general method for the solu-
tion of partial-differential equations,
discusses in detail its mathematical
foundations, and contributes success-
fully to the relatively limited bibliogra-
phy on the subject.
Although complete references to
original works appear throughout the
book, the section that discusses C1
triangular elements (pp. 65–67) de-
scribes the Argyris triangle and the
Hsieh-Clough-Tocher element but
gives no further information that can
MARCH–APRIL 1999
guide you to the original sources. I
hope that any new editions of the
book will correct this.
A common “variational crime” com-
mitted by finite element solutions is the
numerical evaluation of integrals using
quadrature formulas involving point-
evaluation functionals that are not de-
fined for the functions involved. This
leads to nonconforming elements,
which a separate chapter covers in de-
tail. In finite element solutions, it is also
common to enforce constraints, such as
material incompressibility, only in a
weak sense. This takes into account a
finite number of the infinite constraints
of the problem and leads to saddle-
point problems and “mixed” finite ele-
ment solutions. Braess discusses the
well-known Ladyshenskaya-Babuska-
Brezzi condition, which is important
for the proper treatment of mixed for-
mulations, where common sense usu-
ally leads to the development of ele-
ments that exhibit unstable behavior.
The book closes with a chapter on
structural-mechanics applications that
starts with a nice, concise review of the
theory of elasticity. This is very help-
ful, and makes this chapter attractive to
people who are not experts in solid me-
chanics. Certain problems in mechan-
ics involve a small parameter, say t,
.
which can greatly influence the nu-
merical solution’s quality. For example,
the thickness of a membrane is much
smaller than the other dimensions, or
the change in density of a metal during
plastic deformation is always very
small. In such cases, the convergence
of the finite element solution is not
uniform in t, because the size of the fi-
nite elements tends to zero; engineers
say that the mesh locks in such cases.
Locking is overcome usually by using
mixed formulations, a detailed discus-
sion of which is in this chapter.
Overall, the book is interesting and
well-written. In view of the advanced
topics covered, I would not recom-
mend the book to someone who knows
nothing about the FEM and just wants
to learn the basics. However, I would
recommend it strongly to the engineer
or scientist who knows the method’s
practical aspects and wants to gain a
deeper understanding of its mathemat-
ical foundation. Most sections of the
book include a set of problems, which
are exercises in the strict sense but also
serve to develop further various topics
covered in the book from a different
viewpoint. The book could serve as a
textbook for a graduate course on the
FEM for students who already have a
working knowledge of it.
Nikolaos Aravas is the chairman of the De-
partment of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Thessaly, Greece. Contact him at
aravas@uth.gr.
81
.

BOOK AND WEB REVIEWS

PATTERN FORMATION ON THE WEB

Reviewed by F. Marty Ytreberg

T here are a variety of Web sites

devoted to pattern formation
that offer colorful illustrations of the
types of patterns that can be formed in
various systems. I have found five such
sites to be particularly interesting.
A good starting point is John E.
Pearson’s home page, www-xdiv.lanl.
gov/XCM/pearson/home_page.html. By
following the “Chemical Pattern For-
mation” link, you can view movies and
pictures of the patterns formed by a
simple reaction-diffusion system, the
Gray-Scott model. Reaction-diffusion
systems are of interest because they
provide relatively simple models that
capture many of the features of com-
plex nonlinear pattern-forming sys-
tems in biology, chemistry, and physics.
Surf around this site to see some of the
other interesting projects in which
Pearson is involved.
A second site, also connected with
Los Alamos, is that of Aric Hagberg at
cnls.lanl.gov/~aric, which illustrates sim-
ulation results of another reaction dif-
fusion system, the Fitzhugh-Nagumo
model. Follow the “Reaction Diffusion
Simulations” link to see some excellent
examples of spot-splitting, labyrinth,
and spiral patterns.
Patterns formed by Rayleigh-Bénard
convection can be found at www.esam.
nwu.edu/people/professors/riecke/
research.html. In a classic Rayleigh-Bé-
nard experiment, a layer of liquid is
heated from below and the resulting
flow creates a pattern made up of hot
and cold regions. The pattern can be as
simple as straight rolls or as complex as
spiral defect turbulence. This type of
pattern formation is only one of many
contained in this site.
Another pattern-formation Web
site is the Cornell group’s milou.msc.
cornell.edu/stc.html, which contains
movies showing patterns formed in
simulations of fluid-flow equations and
related experiments. This group seems
especially interested in spiral defect
chaos, in which rotating spirals sponta-
neously appear, interact with other spi-
rals and defects, and then disappear ir-
regularly in space and time. If this site
interests you, be sure to check out the
links at the bottom of the page for other
groups working on similar research.
To see some examples of experimen-
tal pattern formation in soft con-
densed-matter systems, don’t miss
www.phyast.pitt.edu/groups/cond_mat/
research/, the site for a group from the
University of Pittsburgh. The “Pattern
Formation in Soft Condensed Matter”
link shows movies of patterns formed
by injecting nitrogen gas into mineral
oil. The gas undergoes viscous finger-
ing to form interesting patterns similar
to those seen in dendritic growth.
These examples are only a few of the
many that are rapidly becoming avail-
able on the Web—they can provide vi-
sual illustration for course discussion
that we could previously only read
about and imagine.
F. Marty Ytreberg is a PhD candidate in the
Department of Physics and Astronomy at the
University of Maine. His research interests in-
clude pattern formation in reaction diffusion
systems and ferrofluids. Contact him at fytreb51
@maine.edu.

COMPUTER SIMULATIONS continued from p. 80

Normand Mousseau is an assistant professor in the Department of
Physics and Astronomy at Ohio University. His inter-
ests cover many aspects of structural and dynamical
properties of disordered systems, from amorphous
silicon to cellular automata. In the last few years, he
has been actively involved in the development of the
activation-relaxation technique. After a BSc and and
MSc at the University of Montreal, and a PhD at
Michigan State University, he did a postdoc at Ox-
ford University, the University of Montreal, and the Delft University of
Technology. He is a member of the American Physical Society, the Cana-
dian Association of Physicists, and the Materials Research Society. Contact
him at the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio Univ., Athens, OH
45701; mousseau@ohio.edu; http:// www.phy.ohiou.edu/~mousseau.
Gerard T. Barkema is a faculty member of the Institute for Theoretical
Physics, at Utrecht University. His research interests
are in computer simulations, especially Monte Carlo
methods applied to statistical physics systems. He
obtained his PhD at Utrecht University. He moved
to his current permanent position after postdoctoral
positions at Cornell University, Oxford University,
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.,
and the Research Center Jülich. Contact him at The-
oretical Physics, Utrecht Univ., Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The
Netherlands; barkema@phys.uu.nl.

82 COMPUTING IN SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

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