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An Overview of the Finite Element Method

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Part of the book series: Mathematical Engineering ((MATHENGIN))

Abstract

Differential equations play a central role in quantitative sciences and are used to describe phenomena as diverse as the flow of traffic through a city, the evolution of an oilfield over many years, the flow of ions through an electrochemical solution and the effect of a drug on a given patient. Most differential equations that are encountered in practice do not possess an analytic solution, that is a solution that can be written in terms of known functions. Under these circumstances, a numerical solution to the differential equation is often sought. The finite element method is one common technique for calculating a numerical solution of a differential equation.

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Correspondence to Jonathan Whiteley .

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Whiteley, J. (2017). An Overview of the Finite Element Method. In: Finite Element Methods. Mathematical Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49971-0_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49971-0_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49970-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49971-0

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