Introduction to Finite Element Methods The following notes were culled from A Survey of Deformable Modeling in Computer

This paper presents a survey of the work done in modeling deformable objects within the computer graphics research community. The research has a long history and a wide variety of approaches have been used. This paper organizes the diversity of research by the technique used rather than by the application, although applications are discussed throughout. This paper presents some purely geometric approaches for modeling deformable objects, but focuses on physically based approaches. In the latter category are mass-spring models, nite element models, approximate continuum models, and low degree of freedom models. Special emphasis is placed on nite element models, which o er the greatest accuracy, but have seen limited use in computer graphics. The paper also suggests important areas for future research. This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonpro t educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America. All rights reserved. Copyright c Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America, 1997 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139