In this lecture, we'll cover:

• The aims of the course and review the roadmap ahead.
• The three levels of depth you can choose to engage with the course at, from a complete understanding of the core theory to focusing on implementation and validation using open-source tools.
• A very brief overview of each section.

We begin by stating the course's goal - to equip you with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required for creating a custom finite element solver capable of analysing plate structures. The course is broken down into multiple sections such as the mechanics of Reisner-Mindlin theory, developing the element stiffness matrix, and deploying Gauss quadrature for numerical integration. Alongside coding exercises, we will validate our custom solver with open-source libraries like OpenSeasPy and Pynite. This validation is crucial for ensuring the reliability of our solver.

You can engage with the course at different levels of depth, from building a comprehensive understanding of the theory and coding implementation to focusing purely on analysis workflows using open-source libraries. Eventually, we will tackle advanced topics such as mesh generation, shear locking, and zero energy displacement. By the end, we will have developed a robust finite element analysis solver, and you will have gained confidence in applying these techniques to real-world scenarios using both our custom code and established open-source tools.

Next up

Next, we'll cover some important housekeeping items including prerequisites and tips to help you get the most out of this course.