tion, analysis, designing, prototyping, testin

g, and lastly, fabrication. Notethat much work is involved

before the fabrication of the ?nal pr
oduct or system. This isto ensure the workability of the ?n
ished product, as well as for cost effectiveness. Theprocess is illustrated as a
?owchart in Figure 1.1. This process is often iterative in nature
,meaning that some of the procedures are rep
eated based on the results obtained at a currentstage, so as to achieve an optim
al
performance at the lowest cost for the system to be built.Th
erefore, techniques related to modelling and simulation in a rapid and
effective way playan
increasingly important role, resulting in the a
pplication
o
f the FEM being multipliednumerous times because of this.This book deals with to
pics
related mainly to modelling and simulation, which areunderlined
in Figure 1.1. Under these topics, we shall address the computational aspect
s,which are also underlin
ed in Figure 1.1. The focus will be on the techniques of phy
sical,mathematical and computational modelling, and various aspects of computati
o
nal simu-lation. A good understanding of the
se techniques plays an important role in building anadvanced engineering system
in a rapid and
cost effective way.So w
hat is the FEM? The FEM was ?rst used to s
olve problems of stress analysis, andhas since been applied to many other proble
ms like thermal analysis, ?