Symbolic Manipulation Program (SMP) -Algebraic Codes for Two and Three Dimensional Finite Element Formulations

Keywords: Computer Programs, Symbolic Manipulation Program, Finite Element Method, MSA (Matrix Structure Analysis), Engineering Mechanics, Matrix Structure Analysis, Algebraic Codes, SMP (Symbolic Manipulation Program), and FEM (Finite Element Method).

Abstract: A computer algebra package entitled the Symbolic Manipulation Program (SMP) has been briefly reviewed. Its capabilities of handling the Finite Element Method (FEM) and Matrix Structure Analysis (MSA) are studied. The applications of using SMP in nonlinear FEM and reliability analysis of nondeterministic systems are demonstrated. The possibilities of translating the output from SMP into higher level languages such as C and FORTRAN are also investigated in order to communicate with existing computer codes and to obtain numerical results more efficiently. A number of SMP programs have been developed and are listed in this report. Finally, the potential applications and restrictions of SMP to engineering problems are discussed herein.