Talk:Finite element analysis

I would like to point out that there is an error on your page.Accuracy of the FEA method cannot -practically- be improved indifinitevely. There is an upper limit.This limit is determined by convergence check performed by all FEA analysts. After a number of elements accuracy stays practically the same, while computing time increase

And what about FEA freeware?

1.Does FEA include FEM and FDM? 2.The current article seems to explain info already contained in FEM page.Why not try to explain when does FEM becomes FEA,and explain some practical applications and uses of FEA?--Sahodaran 18:45, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Too many external links

This page has more external links to commercial finite element vendors than actual content. Any ideas of what to be done about it? I would think we should just keep a paragraph listing all commercial software but with no direct links to the companies publishing them (and same for free software links). Comments? Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 15:58, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

With your experience in shape optimization, I'm confident you'll find the optimal shape in the infinite-dimensional space of possible articles. ;)

Seriously, I'd support removing all the external links to software. A paragraph listing all the software does not seem very useful (unless you want to compare the various packages). -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 04:01, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Which, to my mind seems like a good reason to keep them.Greglocock 11:09, 3 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The number of links is just too big. Any google search would find them. Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 02:54, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What efficient search terms would bring this list up?Greglocock 03:39, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

finite element software Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 15:25, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, but that search hides Nastran 3 pages down. Not really as good as a proper list is it?Greglocock 23:53, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps. But this article is now one screenful big, with the external links taking up almost three screenfuls. Not a healthy state of affairs.

Also, certainly that collection of external links is indiscriminate, people just use this page to boost their google ratings. I will cut off the whole thing when I have time. Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 00:45, 6 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am new to contributing to Wikipedia, so please let me know if this does not fit into the overall scheme. What about making a new page for "finite element software"? It could have a matrix with types of solvers and basic capabilities. For the open source software, it could also include licensing. This would allow the "finite element analysis" page to be dedicated to the method and give people interested in the software a resource. --Jbaylor 16:28, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Would you be willing to work on that? It would be a lot of work.

I agree that such an article may provide value. An arbitrary list of external links the way it is now does not provide value however. Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 01:01, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]