Finite Element Procedures - Second Edition

This is a great FE reference for a range of proficiency levels in both linear and nonlinear analysis. The relevant concepts in continuum mechanics and the derivation of variational formulations are presented very well, and tied succinctly to the element formulations, linear algebra, and solution methodologies commonly used in practice. It is also a great reference for eigensolver formulations and solution methods, as well as derivations for FE modal dynamic analysis. The example problems are also very helpful.

This is one of the few iconic textbook on FEM used in both academia and industry. Unfortunately, the second edition seems almost a commercial gimmick. It is more a reprint with minor changes. This "second edition" even includes a one page "Preface - Second edition" where the author himself states that this is not what one would expect from a second edition and that there is no increase in the number of pages from including new content. I have both editions and I did a side-by-side comparison of the two tables of contents. Hardly one can detect any new content. It seems that only a few pages of content in the 1st edition were replaced with a few pages of new content. For example (and possibly these might be all changes): - section 1.4 "A proposal on how to study FEMs" got replaced with 1.4 "Some recent research accomplishments" (3 pages) - a few pages from Chapter 7 got removed to accommodate a new section 7.4.4 "Fluid-structure interactions" (2 pages) - section 9.2.3 "The Wilson theta method" seems to have been removed to make space for 9.2.4 "The Bathe method" (3 pages) Therefore, if you have the first edition and you expect the second edition to contain any relevant development that happened during the last 20 years (since the first edition was published) you might be disappointed (unless you need a second copy of the text). My rating: 5 stars for the first edition , 1 star for the "second" edition.

Professor Bathe's book is a "must have" for anyone dealing with or interested in Finite Element Method. It was also interesting to read his auto-biographical book - "To Enrich Life", which I finished in 1 day - very captivating!

I have the first edition of this book, and i love it. When I saw “second edition” on the description I thought that some kind of improvements were made over the first edition. Wrong. The book is exactly the same, but printed in a recycled paper (first edition is printed in a good paper). The wording “second edition” is just glued on the cover, it is not even printed… They just changed the formatting of the references, in order to have a different page count… This feels almost a scam... Marco

Good book for someone who want to grasp a good well of knowledge on FEA

Only the highest rating is possible for this book !

Everything Prof. Bathe does should be rated 5 stars.

I'm always skeptical when I see a sea of 5 star reviews of any item on Amazon, especially books. I'm not sure if the previous reviewers are friends of the author, but this book is just OK. What takes Bathe pages upon pages to elaborate on, Hughe's and Cook's FEA books explain coherently in just a few paragraphs, and much friendlier notation. The few things I like about this book are some of the worked out examples. His chapters on solution of linear systems of equations is good also. Other than that I don't consider this book to be a good desktop reference. I would recommend the classic FEM book by T Hughe's or Robert Cook's text on practical FEA