Topic outline

  • General

    This course is an introduction to the finite difference and the finite element methods which are both popular numerical techniques in computational mechanics. The course involves programming assignments using the Python language, to gain in-depth understanding of the methods and to solve various example problems in engineering mechanics.

    During the course, we apply mathematical tools from linear algebra and differential equations. We assume basic familiarity with some programming language - if you are familiar with programming then the basics of the Python language can be learned during the course. Python is one of the most popular programming languages, especially in computational and data science, and it will be beneficial for your future career to learn it. Previous knowledge in engineering mechanics will be useful during the course.

    The course consists of 16 sessions. Each session is either lecture-oriented or exercise-oriented, but the actual content of each session is flexible and will be agreed on a weekly basis. We do our best to enable remote participation but the primary audience is in the classroom. Bringing your own laptop is beneficial because there is not a large enough computer classroom available for the group. Active participation is expected to successfully learn the content and pass the course.

    The grading of the course is based on lecture exercises (33 %), weekly assignments (33 %) and the final exam (33 %). Each part is mandatory to pass the course.

    • Forum icon
      Announcements Forum
    • URL icon
      JupyterHub URL
      Not available unless: You are a(n) Student
      You can use JupyterHub to program and run Python programs without installation.
    • URL icon
      Panopto URL
      Not available unless: You are a(n) Student
      Lectures will be webcast live and recorded in Panopto.
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      Zulip URL
      Not available unless: You are a(n) Student
      Remote questions and assistance during the sessions will be done via Zulip.
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      Course material URL
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      More material will be added as we progress with the course.