Simply supported beam—finite element method (opens in new tab)

The biggest problem I face when writing posts in is deciding how much background explanation to put in. If I included only the stuff I do to get the answer, the posts would be very terse: one sketch and a dozen or fewer lines of math. A full explanation, though, could easily turn into several semesters’ worth of structural analysis theory. I’m trying to get close to the former while adding just enough background so readers with engineering experience can follow along. Even if you haven’t used...