This paper on "A Methodology for Educational Software in Computational Engineering Mechanics" was presented at the NAFEMS World Congress on Design, Simulation & Optimisation: Reliability & Applicability of Computational Methods - 9-11 April 1997, Stuttgart, Germany.

Summary

Teaching finite element analysis is not a simple task in a conventional educational or engineering environment, due to the large amount of numbers and operations involved. Clearly both the book and the blackboard require too much space to clarify concepts such as global matrices, the assembly process and the critical analysis of results. Moreover, the study of the structural response to changes in properties of the materials, type of supports or changes in geometry is extremely difficult without resorting to the facilities offered by the computer both in the terms of computer power and graphics.
The lnternational Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE) in Barcelona, Spain together with the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) have addressed these problems by developing educational software programs that can be used in educational establishments as well as by professional engineers. This educational software is based on a two level approach: basic education for matrix analysis, finite element methods, etc. and tutorial guides for further education on specialist application software. The basic educational software follows a didactic methodology and presents the user with the theoretical aspects and examples in which the user is guided through each stage of the analysis. Also included are exercises in which users can experiment with their own problems to obtain a greater understanding for the processes involved. The tutorial guides also follow a similar methodology but are developed for specialist application software such as casting processes, sheet stamping, etc.
This paper presents the methodology utilised for the educational software products developed by CIMNE together with the reasons and statistical analysis for adopting these methods. Examples are used, wherever possible to illustrate the functionality and to emphasize these points.