Advantages of object-oriented finite-element analysis

Over the last 20 years or so object-oriented programming has become the predominant paradigm in software engineering. Finite-element analysis (FEA) is the most powerful computational tool used in engineering, particularly for structures. It has been in use for some 50 years and as a result there is a massive legacy of tried-and-tested software, mostly written in Fortran. Therefore, the impact of object-oriented programming has been less than in other areas. Even so, there has been much research in this area. This paper describes the advantages that can be gained from using object-oriented methods in finite-element software design. From the user perspective there are two primary concerns-ease of use and computational speed. In addition, the flexibility, maintainability and robustness of software are of indirect importance to the end-user, and clearly of major importance to software developers. The paper will demonstrate how object-oriented methods make positive contributions to all these areas