Hi, I'm a student of fluid dynamics and I'm interested in learning about the differences between Finite Element and Finite Volume Methods and the solvers based on those. For example can one use fewer nodes and a coarser mesh with a FEM based solver? And which solver uses which method? Are there any studies or other related information online? I'd be very thankfull if someone would be able to provide me with this iformation or to point me to the right direction to find it.

Regards, Max

Max, I would suggest you reading a book titled: "Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics" by Ferziger and Perice. It is a very good book which introduces you to the different methods of finite difference, finite element, and finite volume. good luck Ramadan

Max, if you are just looking for a fast and simple way to learn the finite volume and finite element methods, I have found a couple of websites that are useful. for finite volume method, you can refer to this site:

http://www2.cs.cmu.edu/~scandal/nesl...hw6/node3.html

It is a very simple yet resourceful webpage. Another such page is: http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~alistair/...per/node3.html

I do not know much about online resource for finite element. Personally, I would prefer to read a book as, some information on web are somewhat "simplified" and sometimes might not be true.

Hope that helps.

keith