In the preceding chapters, the general nonlinear continuum mechanics theory was presented. In order to make use of this theory in many practical applications, a finite dimensional model must be developed. In this model, the partial differential equations of equilibrium are written using approximation methods as a finite set of ordinary differential equations. One of the most popular approximation methods that can be used to achieve this goal is the finite element method. In this method, the spatial domain of the body is divided into small regions called elements. Each element has a set of nodes, called nodal points, that are used to connect this element with other elements used in the discretization of the body. The displacement of the material points of an element is approximated using a set of shape functions and the displacements of the nodes and possibly their derivatives with respect to the spatial coordinates. In this case, the dimension of the problem depends on the number of nodes and number and type of the nodal coordinates used.

In the literature, there are many finite element formulations that are developed for the deformation analysis of mechanical, aerospace, structural, and biological systems. Some of these formulations are developed for small-deformation and small-rotation linear problems, some for large-deformation and large-rotation nonlinear analysis, and the others for large-rotation and small-deformation nonlinear problems. Several numerical solution procedures and computational algorithms are also proposed for solving the resulting system of finite element differential equations.