TRENDS IN FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS.

In this editorial the author attempts to describe and predict the trends in the world of finite elements. It should be understood that the observations are made from the admittedly semimyopic position of one who runs a small engineering consulting business and specializes in the use of ANSYS which is one of the popular finite element programs. The world of finite elements is intimately intertwined with the development of computing equipment. Computers have been used in four basic areas in engineering: drafting, testing, manufacturing, and simulation. These four areas are often referred to as islands of automation since the technology to apply computers in these areas has been developed separately and there is usually little flow of information between them.