This paper on "Reliability and Cost-Efficiency of Finite Element Methods for Non Linear Structural Analysis" was presented at the 5th International Conference on Reliability of Finite Element Methods for Engineering Applications - 10-12 May 1995, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Summary

The concepts of reliability, cost and efficiency of the finite element method for non linear analysis of structures are examined in this paper. Some hints are given to assess when a finite element solution is reliable and to characterize its cost items. The relationship between cost and efficiency of the numeric.al solution is also discussed and some examples of application to the nonlinear analysis of a concrete gravity dam and a reactor containment shell are presented