This is the README file for version 2.0 of FElt - a package for
introductory level finite element analysis.

See the file README.alpha for a basic description of the package. See the
file CHANGELOG for a detailed description of what the changes are from the
public release of 1.3 to this release. This file will simply bring you up to
speed on a few things.

Major changes include the incorporation of transient analysis. In general
this means you can solve a structural dynamics problem using the Hilbert-
Hughes-Taylor alpha method of numerical integration (a variant of
Newmark integration). You can specify dynamic nodal forces with a continuous
function in time and they will be dynamically evaluated throughout the
course of the simulation. Velvet includes an animation capability to model
the dynamic behavior of the complete structure given this new analysis
capability. Old fashioned tabular and ascii based time-displacement plots
are also available in both felt and velvet. Gibbs-Poole-Stockmeyer/Gibbs-King
automatic node renumbering is also now available for badnwidth/profile
reduction. The matrix assembling routines now assemble directly into
a compact column representation. This is in itself can save major amounts
of memory. Coupled with renumbering, savings in both speed and memory can
be dramatic.

To keep people better informed a mailing list has been setup. We'll try to
make bug reports and fixes, announcements, etc. available through this
channel. Hopefully, it will also turn into a forum for FElt discussions in
general - including usage questions, how do I do xyz questions and discussions
of what capabilities people would like to see in the package. If you
are using FElt we urge you to subscribe if for no other reason than to keep
track of bug fixes.

To subscribe send a message to [email protected] with the line

subscribe felt-l

as the only line in the _body_ of the message (the server ignores subject
headings). To send a question or comment to the list just set it up as a
regular email and send it to [email protected]. Thanks to
Greg Jackson at the ASME BBS for setting this up for us.

felt.ps ("FElt User's Guide and Reference Manual") has been updated to
reflect the new changes - as always look there for the real details. Updated
man pages are also available which briefly describe each individual
application.

For installation instructions see the file INSTALL. The best way to get a
feel for the package is to use it. Several examples are provided in the
etc/Tests/ directory. A simple dynamic example can be found in
etc/Tests/dynframe.flt.

As usual, we would like to stress that feedback is always appreciated ... we
welcome all comments as to usability and functionality. If you're using the
package please drop us a note and let us know what you think, even if you've
got no complaints whatsoever. Mail bug reports, comments, hints, suggestion,
complaints, etc. to one of us at the email addresses below or even better.

Jason GobatDarren Atkinson
[email protected]@ucsd.edu