Finite Element Methods History of Rotating Machinery Dynamics

Once the possibility of computers was foreseen, the engineering community turned its attention to solving complex elasticity and structural analysis problems rather than depending on an approximate strength of materials approach. It also allowed the engineering community to depend less on factors of a safety approach and to remove or reduce to a considerable extent the unknown factors and thus render more accurate designs. Finite element methods allowing more accurate predictions reduced costly experimentation and introduced simulation, thus achieving cheaper but more accurate designs before testing prototypes.