
12
Computational mechanics
The algebraic difficulties of analytic mechanical solutions are rather over-
whelming and become insurmountable when solving real-world problems. Com-
putational mechanics is based on the discretization of the geometric continuum
and describing its physical behavior in terms of generalized coordinates. Its
focus is on computing numerical solutions to practical problems of engineering
mechanics.
12.1 Three-dimensional elasticity
One of the fundamental concepts necessary to understanding continuum me-
chanical systems is a generic treatment of elasticity described in detail in the
classical reference of the subject [17]. When an ...