AN ALGORITHMIC FRAMEWORK FOR FLEXIBLE FINITE ELEMENT-BASED STRUCTURALMODELING

A framework is presented that provides new levels of computational fle xibility for general finite element-based structural modelling. The ap proach is based on object-oriented programming methods in which the cl asses defining the framework represent both traditional and non-tradit ional finite element modelling abstractions. The framework supports a wide range of algorithmic methods and techniques: degree of freedom- a nd element-based, iterative and direct algorithms are accommodated for solving linear and non-linear problems in static and dynamic contexts . In order to adapt the solution to factors including the modelling as sumptions, the required levels of efficiency and accuracy, and variati ons in a model in space and over time, algorithms can be selected and changed dynamically, and distinct algorithms can be used in different parts of a model. An evaluation of the framework using various criteri a shows that in addition to enabling new kinds of efficiencies, it exh ibits performance comparable to traditional implementations in executi ng fundamental computations.