Beam element vs. Finite element?

[ACT]

Hello,

am a bit confused when to use

beam element and when to use Finite element?

is the beam element a subset of Finite element?

 

[FredGarvin]

A beam element is a type of finite element. There are a lot of different element types. The three most basic elements are a spring element, truss element and a beam element. The type of element to be used depends on the model and the degrees of freedom that each have at their respective nodes. In other words, the type of element to use depends heavily on your load conditions and what your geometry is.

 

[ACT]

Thanks for your swift reply ;)

do you recommend any book, or link online?

 

[FredGarvin]

Any FEA book will give you the basics behind the theory:
http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/CAS/courses.d/IFEM.d/
Note chapters 11 and 12 in the link above.

http://illustrations.marin.ntnu.no/structures/analysis/FEM/theory/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_element_method_in_structural_mechanics

http://www.sv.vt.edu/classes/MSE2094_NoteBook/97ClassProj/num/widas/history.html
http://www.sv.vt.edu/classes/MSE2094_NoteBook/97ClassProj/num/midkiff/theory.html

http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/ansys/