Introduction to Discrete Field Mechanics

Abstract

These lecture notes were prepared for publication prior to the lecture series and with limited knowledge as to the background of the typical participant. It was assumed, therefore, that the audience would have backgrounds in mathematics through differential equations, including introductory work in partial differential equations, and backgrounds in structural theory that include advanced frame analysis and introductory work in plate and shell theory. The course goals will be somewhat flexible depending upon the lecturer’s observation of the rate at which the new material can be assimilated by the audience, but planning for the lecture series was based upon the ambitious goal of both introducing the fundamental concepts of discrete field mechanics and covering work at the frontiers of present knowledge of the subject as related to structural analysis.