FE Tutorials and Introductory Material

We have had many requests from FE novices for online FE tutorials, and more generally, how to get started with the Finite Element Method. Here are some links which may be useful. We would be grateful to have your suggestions on how to enlarge this section so as to help FE beginners. Your tips will be acknowledged.

Some general comments:

• For some the best and quickest method to learn FEM is through a lecture course at an educational institute. However this may not always be a practical alternative.
• For the old-fashioned types :-) "books are best", ie some learn more from slow absorption of the printed page than from a programmed tutorial. There is no one ideal beginner's text - everyone has their own favourite. Books which include programming examples (which can be implemented) are of benefit to beginners.
• Write your own simple FE programs based on worked examples, compile and then solve your own example problems. An FE library (source code) of common operations can be a good way to get started.
• Search the web (and this site) for course material, for example search under "finite element tutorial", or similar.
• Many of the freeware and commercial programs listed in IFER include tutorial introductions which could benefit FE novices. Please let us know if you have found any of these to be especially useful.