CEE 6720 - Introduction to Finite Element Method

Spring. 3 credits.

Prerequisite: MAE 6110.

Staff.

The goal of the course is to provide a strong understanding of finite element fundamentals to doctoral students intending to pursue research in the area. The course will present the mathematical framework based on functional analysis. Doctoral students are expected from a variety of fields and backgrounds, so the course will begin with a short math review covering topics in real analysis, vector spaces, and PDE. Next, the basic components of the finite element method will be presented in the context of elliptic boundary value problems. This will be followed by a discussion of time discretization. The last part of the course will consist of case studies in which special topics are considered in depth, with emphasis on literature review.

The course will include some matlabbased computing assignments. The intent of these is to walk the student through all the elements involved in a simple finite element formulation. Particular attention will be paid to code verification. ”