Numerical analysis for engineers

The major contribution to the revolution of our way of life in the last thirty years is probably due to the availability of extremely powerful digital computing systems. In the field of engineering science, these devices have provided the means for solving most of the available governing equations of physical problems. As a results, it is now possible to make a virtual simulation of most physical phenomena which eventually produce important benefits in any field of our modern society. However digital computers can only perform the basic algebraic and logical operations while the equations that have to be solved for virtual modelling are generally very complex mathematical expressions. Numerical Analysis is actually the means which provides the suitable procedures, or algorithms, for the solution of mathematical problems. This book addresses people who are involved in the engineering science and want to learn about the possible solution offered by the modern Numerical Analysis. In particular, this book is suitable for those operating with the Finite Element Method, either as developers or simple users, since it provides a fairly complete mathematical background on the different aspects of its numerical solutions and error control. The author has attempted to make the book selfcontained and comprehensive enough to meet yhe needs of students as well as those of most practising engineers and scientists. The first part concerns the theory of Linear Algebra and reports all the necessary mathematical background for the full understanding of the matrix and vector operations presented in this book.