Advances in Engineering Software 37 (2006) 797–804

www.elsevier.com/locate/advengsoft

EasyFEM—An object-oriented graphics interface finite

element/finite volume software q
S. Phongthanapanich a, P. Dechaumphai b,*

a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Siam University, Phasi-charoen, Bangkok 10163, Thailand
b
Mechanical Engineering Department, Chulalongkorn University, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Received 23 May 2005; received in revised form 3 January 2006; accepted 16 May 2006
Available online 28 July 2006

Abstract

An object-oriented finite element/finite volume software, EasyFEM, has been developed. The software, with a fully interactive graph-
ics interface, analyses heat transfer, solid mechanics, and fluids problems by the finite element and the finite volume methods. The Coad
and Yourdon methodology is used to describe the general structure of classes and objects implemented by the software. Details of the
object-oriented classes for both the graphics pre- and post-processors, as well as for the analysis solutions, are described. Several case
studies with graphical representations of numerical solutions are presented to illustrate some functionalities of the software.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Object-oriented programming; Graphics user interface; Finite element/finite volume software

1. Introduction of new developments can also pose additional difficulties

Need for engineering software to analyze interdisciplin-
ary problems has increased recently. Fluid/structure
interaction problems, in particular, have arisen in manufac-
turing industries that demand developments of new analy-
sis tools. The finite element method (FEM) has gained its
popularity for solving structural problems in the past dec-
ades, while the finite volume method (FVM) is being widely
employed in computational fluid dynamics for solving fluid
problems. Even though both methods start from the same
process of domain discretization, but their analyses and
computational procedures are different. Combining both
methods in single software thus normally creates program-
ming difficulty, mainly from different backgrounds of
programmers who have expertise in different fields. In addi-
tion, software maintenance including the implementation
q
This is a freeware, free copy of software could be requested directly
from the corresponding author.
*
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +66 2 218 6621.
E-mail address: fmepdc@eng.chula.ac.th (P. Dechaumphai).
after the software has been used for sometimes.
To normal users of any software, effective graphical
interface for both the pre- and post-processors is needed.
A number of tasks, such as constructing geometries,
discretizing domains, applying loads and constraints, per-
forming analyses, and displaying solutions, must be simple
and easy for users. Furthermore, because most users have
good backgrounds or experiences only in one discipline,
e.g., either structures or fluids, supportive human–com-
puter interaction (HCI) concept should be incorporated
in every state of the software analysis and design to
increase the learnability for other disciplines. All of the fac-
tors described above which include the programming con-
cepts, the different analysis solvers for disciplinary
problems, the full graphical interface environment, and
the human–computer interaction concept for improved
learnability, must be considered prior to developing a soft-
ware for analyzing complex engineering problems
nowadays.
Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a well-suited
approach for serious developers and has received the
popularity in the computational engineering community

0965-9978/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.advengsoft.2006.05.006
798 S. Phongthanapanich, P. Dechaumphai / Advances in Engineering Software 37 (2006) 797–804
recently. The OOP offers many means of avoiding/reducing
difficulties encountered during the software development
life cycle [1,2]. It also helps improving the software code
reusability, modificability, maintainability, with good doc-
umentation. In the past decade, the object-oriented concept
has been applied by researchers [3–7] to develop finite ele-
ment and finite volume programs by using the OOP lan-
guages, such as the SmallTalk and C++. Recently, the
new trend of software development is the incorporation
of a friendly graphics user interface environment to maxi-
mize the user learnability through direct visualization. This
work proposes a procedure to combine such graphical
interface environment with the finite element/finite volume
analysis solvers, all with the object-oriented programming
approach.
EasyFEM is a prototype graphics interface software
developed for analyzing two-dimensional heat transfer, solid
mechanics, and fluid flows problems by the finite element/
finite volume methods. The software employs the OOP
approach for both the user graphics interface and the analy-
sis solution modules. The pre- and post-processors, with
friendly graphics user interface environment, allow users
to construct arbitrary geometries, discretize computational
domains automatically, apply loads and constraints, per-
form analyses, and display solutions with ease.
The plain console finite element/finite volume applica-
tion has been widely developed and used by researchers.
Even though such the console application is adequate for
solving academic type problems but it is not suitable for
problems with complex geometry. The pre- and post-
graphics interface software is needed to increase the model-
ing capability and to display solutions effectively. One of
the objectives of this paper is to present an idea for
designing a pre- and post-graphics interface software that
can be used with the existing solvers. The idea is simple
and can be implemented by a programmer with moderate
OOP background.
The primary objective of this paper is to present the
OOP concept used in the development of the EasyFEM
graphics interface software for solving disciplinary prob-
lems under a friendly graphics user interface environment.
The classes and objects classification idea described in this
paper is uncomplicated for finite element/finite volume
software development and can be used with several kinds
of existing solvers with small modification. To reduce the
software development effort, the multi-language software
should be implemented. The Visual Basic (VB) is employed
herein for the user graphics interface because of its simplic-
ity with convenient debugging feature. The Visual C++
(VC++) is used to provide efficient graphics capability,
while the Visual Fortran (VF) is employed in the develop-
ment of the analysis solvers. The data structure organiza-
tion of the software and the object handlings are
described. Several examples of heat transfer, solid mechan-
ics, and fluid flows problems are presented to highlight dis-
tinctive numerical solutions and graphics representations
of the software.
2. Object-oriented programming in VB/VC++ and general
structure of EasyFEM
The OOP is a concept that helps programming easier
and more effective by coding software to deal directly with
objects in the real world. The object-oriented paradigm
consists of the three major components that an OOP lan-
guage should support. The first component, the encapsula-
tion, is the ability to hide detailed implementation of an
object. The inheritance, the second component, is the abil-
ity to reuse the existing objects for creating new specialized
objects. The third component, the polymorphism, is the
ability of the code to exhibit multiple behaviors, or to allow
the use of identical function names for logical similar meth-
ods in different types [1,8].
It is well-known that VB does not fully support the OOP
features, for example, VB handles polymorphism a little
differently from the way VC++ does. VB does not use
inheritance to provide polymorphism, but VB allows pro-
grammers to create an interface, which is a set of related
properties and method definitions, in an abstract class.
This special class is then declared in class modules that
implement the interface by using the Implements keyword.
Another important feature that VB does not directly sup-
port is the pointer implementation. However, the feature
could be added to VB by the help of VC++ and some Win-
dows Application Programming Interface (Win32 API)
functions. On the other hand, the benefits of using VB
for software development can be easily recognized for its
simplicity, less time consuming with complete tools for user
interface design as compared to VC++.
The pre/post-processing parts of the EasyFEM software
has been mostly developed using VB for the design of user
interface objects, such as dialog boxes, menu icons, tool-
bar, graphics canvas, etc. In selected parts, VC++ is used
only for graphics implementation and some add-on func-
tions for VB via dynamic-link library (DLL). Because the
software was intended for the analyses of disciplinary prob-
lems, the user interface design should maintain the consis-
tency, familiarity, observability and responsiveness in order
to enhance its usability [2]. To illustrate some implementa-
tion of these ideas on the EasyFEM software, Fig. 1(a)–(b)
shows an example of the two dialog boxes used to apply
nodal loads of the heat transfer and solid mechanics prob-
lems, respectively. These dialog boxes look similar in order
to improve the learning curve of newcomers for analyzing
problems in different disciplines. The same type of the dia-
log box, shared by all disciplinary problems, provides the
proper load types for each specified problem automatically
with consistent interface design. So that when a newcomer
learn how to use one dialog box for a disciplinary problem,
and he/she would grasp the idea for solving different prob-
lems in the other disciplines.
EasyFEM software is an integrated graphics/analysis
environment that composes of two main parts, the pre/
post-processors and the solvers. The general structure of
the pre- and post-processors consists of several classes that
 S. Phongthanapanich, P. Dechaumphai / Advances in Engineering Software 37 (2006) 797–804 799

Fig. 1. Shared dialog box concept of nodal load applications: (a) for heat transfer problem and (b) for solid mechanics problem.

could be classified into four categories, which are the
graphics, the finite element, the error handle, and the file
I/O handle as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 by the Coad and
Yourdon diagram [9]. The implemented data structure
model follows the idea given in Ref. [10] with modifications
for more convenient coding. The modifications include the
use of VB to ease data preparation for both the element-
based FE and the edge-based FV solvers.
The graphics category consists of several classes that
handle all the graphics presentation. For instance, the base
Curve class is the abstraction for different geometry shapes
such as the lines (Line class), arcs or circles (Arc class) and
the splines (Spline class). The Point class stores all informa-
tion about the points. The Boundary class stores informa-
tion for the boundary formation by the given curves and
also the discretized finite element model that consists of
elements, nodes, materials, loads, constraints and solu-
tions. The 2DViz class is the abstraction for several classes
performing all the solution presentation by scientific visual-
ization such as the fringe plots (Fringe class), contour lines

Boundary
ErrorHandle FileHandle

3,m 0, m

0,2 1

Curve Element

2, 4 1 3 1 0, m 0, m

0, m 0, m 1, m

Point Node Material

1 1 1 1

Load Constraint

1 0, m0, m

1 1

2DViz Solution SolverControl Solver

Fig. 2. General structure of EasyFEM software.

800 S. Phongthanapanich, P. Dechaumphai / Advances in Engineering Software 37 (2006) 797–804
Curve
Line Arc Spline
Load
NodeL ElementL EdgeL
Contour Fringe
Fig. 3. Generalization-specification structure of classes implemented by EasyFEM software.
or streamlines (Contour class), deformation shapes (Deform
class), vector plots (Vector class) and particle tracing con-
tours (ParticleTracing class).
The finite element category consists of six main classes
containing all information of the finite element model. The
Element class stores the information of the three-node trian-
gular elements while the Node class stores all information of
the nodes. The mesh generation of EasyFEM consists of the
Delaunay mesh generation technique [11–13], the automatic
node creation technique [14], and the mesh quality improve-
ment by the mesh smoothing technique. The Constraint and
Load classes are abstractions for storing the information of
the constraints and loads, the specified initial conditions
and/or the boundary conditions, respectively. The Material
class stores the material properties assigned to all elements
FileHandle
ModelFile FEFile TempFile
Constraint
NodeC EdgeC
2DViz
Vector Deform ParticleTracing
in the finite element model. The Solution class stores the
numerical solutions that are returned from the solver.
The error control and file I/O manipulations are sepa-
rately designed as ErrorHandle and FileHandle classes.
The ErrorHandle class handles all error events including
inter-processes error which should be introduced by exter-
nal solver. The FileHandle class is an abstraction class for
handling input/output data stream which includes the
ModelFile class for model file management, the FEFile
class for fixed-format text file handling used to communi-
cate with external solver and the TempFile class for con-
trolling cached file which is used to speed up the input/
output data streaming.
The solvers for analyzing disciplinary problems are
developed independently by using VF due to its efficiency
 S. Phongthanapanich, P. Dechaumphai / Advances in Engineering Software 37 (2006) 797–804
for handling mathematical and matrix/vector operations
with several object-oriented features supported by Fortran
90/95 [8]. The general structure of the solvers consists of
several classes implemented in modules, while derived-data
types are encapsulated to provide interface with external
objects. The six solvers perform analyses for problems in
the different disciplines by the FEM or the FVM such as
the heat transfer, solid mechanics, thermal stress, potential
flow, low-speed viscous flow, and high-speed compressible
flow analyses, respectively.
The design concept of the EasyFEM software and its
analysis procedure for solving disciplinary problems are
shown in Fig. 4. The main features of the software are sum-
marized as follows.
2.1. Pre-processor
• Create, modify and delete the model geometry consist-
ing of point and curve objects with the help of dialog
boxes. The software supports many types of curves such
as lines, arcs, circles and splines and uses several meth-
ods to create both the point and curve objects.
• Change background color of the graphics window.
• Define multi-boundary domain by selecting curves to
form a simple closed loop, with or without holes, to
define the boundary object.
• Create, modify or delete material types (e.g., steel,
water, wood, etc.), model properties (e.g., thickness of
elements), and analysis types (e.g., plane stress or plane
strain case)
• Discretize the selected boundary objects into three-node
triangular elements.
• Apply loads and boundary conditions on nodes or edges
of elements depending on types of problems.
Select solver
Create material
Create geometry
Define boundary
Discretize boundary
Create loads Create constraints
Export data
FE/FV analysis
Read solution
Visualize solution
Fig. 4. Design concept and computational procedure of EasyFEM
software.
801
• List existing objects and related information.
• Select existing objects using the mouse. The selections
could be for an individual object, several objects, within
a specified box or a circle.
• Identify the existing objects by displaying graphically.
• Control the properties of object or object entity by using
color and font visibility.
• Create model database with data compression feature.
• Export all the objects to image files in several formats
such as .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .png, and .wmf.
• Export neutral files that contain information of the
model for other applications.
• Create ASCII input files for the solvers.
2.2. Solver
• Perform linear stress analysis [15].
• Perform heat transfer analysis [16].
• Perform thermal stress analysis [15].
• Perform potential flow analysis [15].
• Perform low-speed viscous flow analysis [17].
• Perform high-speed compressible flow analysis [18–20].
• Create ASCII output files for post-processor.
2.3. Post-processor
• Read ASCII output files.
• Display model deformation shapes.
• Display fringe plots or contour lines.
• Display flow vectors or displacement vectors.
• Display streamlines.
• Generate AVI files or show animation of particle paths
by a particle tracing method.
• Support multi-color or single-color visualization with
shading up to 1024 levels.
• Report minimum or maximum values of solutions.
3. Examples
Four examples are used to demonstrate some function-
alities and the capability of the EasyFEM software for ana-
lyzing different disciplinary problems. The first example is a
rectangular plate with a circular hole at the center, sub-
jected to uniform loading along the left and the right edges.
Due to symmetry of the problem, only a quarter of the
plate as shown in Fig. 5 is used for modeling. For a domain
with irregular shape, the EasyFEM software allows users
to split the model into multi-boundary domains or objects
as shown in the figure. Each object consists of a closed loop
of curves that may include holes if needed. Discretization
into a finite element model can then be performed using
either the structured or unstructured mesh. Fig. 6(a)–(b)
shows the graphical objects consisting of the boundary
objects and the finite element objects, respectively.
802 S. Phongthanapanich, P. Dechaumphai / Advances in Engineering Software 37 (2006) 797–804

Fig. 5. Typical graphics environment of EasyFEM. Fig. 8. Fringe plot of temperature distribution of heat transfer in a multi-
holes plate.

Fig. 7(a) shows a structured finite element mesh with the

applied forces for all the nodes along the right edge, and
the proper constraints along the problem symmetrical lines.
After the problem is analyzed by the Solid solver, the von
Mises stress solution can be displayed in the form of a
fringe plot on the deformed geometry as shown in
Fig. 7(b).
The second example is a heat transfer problem in a cir-
cular plate with holes. The processes for constructing the
geometry and the discretization to create a finite element
model are the same as described in the previous example.
However, the boundary conditions for this example are
specified as the temperature of 80 C for all nodes along
the small holes and 30 C along the outer edge of the plate.
Fig. 8 shows the fringe plot of the temperature solution
obtained from the heat solver.
The third example is a low-speed viscous fluid flow in a
square cavity at the Reynolds number of 400 [21]. Again,
the preparation processes for creating the geometry and
the finite element model are the same as the preceding
examples. For the fluid analysis, the boundary conditions

Boundary

Boundary
Curve
(Spline)

Point Curve (Line) Node Element

(a) (b)
Fig. 6. Classes relationship: (a) graphical objects related to the model and (b) finite element objects belong to the boundary objects.

Fig. 7. Rectangular plate with a hole subjected to tensile loading: (a) Finite element model with constraints and loads, (b) fringe plot of von Mises stress
on deformed shape.
 S. Phongthanapanich, P. Dechaumphai / Advances in Engineering Software 37 (2006) 797–804
Fig. 9. Flow in a cavity: (a) Streamline distribution plot and (b) zoom of velocity vectors of the box in (a).
Fig. 10. Mach 3 flow past NACA 0012 airfoil: (a) unstructured mesh and (b) fringe plot of density distributions.
of the velocity components and the pressure are required at
the nodes on the flow inlet, outlet, and along the wall
boundary. Proper initial conditions are also needed for
all the nodes in the entire flow field for the iterative analysis
method. Fig. 9(a) shows a fringe plot of the streamline dis-
tribution. Details of the solutions can be visualized by
using the zoom feature, such as that shown by the velocity
vector plot highlighted in Fig. 9(b).
The last example is the high-speed Mach 3 flow past the
NACA 0012 airfoil configuration. Fig. 10(a) shows an
unstructured finite element mesh with refined elements near
the airfoil surface. Fig. 10(b) shows a typical solution of the
density distribution around the airfoil. These four examples
highlight the benefits of using the object-oriented program-
ming to develop single software for analyzing disciplinary
engineering problems.
4. Conclusion
The object-oriented approach was applied for the devel-
opment of the graphics interface EasyFEM software. A
simple idea of classes and objects classification for front-
end graphics interface software design and development
for existing console-based solver is described. The software
uses the finite element/finite volume methods for analyzing
the solid mechanics, the heat transfer, and the fluid flows
problems. The interactive graphics user interface environ-
803
ment was implemented for the ease of constructing geome-
tries, performing analyses, and displaying solutions. The
data structures for both the pre- and post-processors,
including the solvers were described. Four examples were
used to demonstrate some functionalities and to highlight
the performance of the software for analyzing different dis-
ciplinary engineering problems.
Acknowledgements
The authors are pleased to acknowledge the Thailand
Research Fund (TRF) for supporting this research work.
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