"From the preface" "The advent of computers has opened new horizons in the field of engineering design. In the realm of analysis for engineering design the finite element method has emerged as a powerful tool for modeling and analysis of solids and structures of complex geometries and variable material properties in many areas of engineering design such as machine components, pressure vessels, nuclear reactors, off-shore structures, steel and concrete buildings, bridges, towers, automobile components, turbine parts, power plant structures, etc. The text-book literature on the finite element method exists at an introductory level through the new and more advanced level of simple applications. Modeling and analysis of practical problems continue to be developed and published in technical journals. Developments are also taking place in the use of artificial intelligence techniques in expert systems to advise the analysts on the choice of the elements, type of analysis, discretization, etc. for solving complicated problems. It is essential to periodically synthesize all the developments on the finite element method and its applications to practical problems of engineering design and also to identify the future areas of research both in the domains of academic research and industrial applications. Keeping this in mind an advanced study institute was organized at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India during Aug. 1-10, 1988. This volume contains lecture notes prepared by the invited lecturers attending the Advanced Study Institute. It should serve as a ready reference to researchers and practitioners engaged in the finite-element analysis related to engineering design in several disciplines."