The intention of this booklet is a brief but general introduction into the

treatment of the Finite Element Method (FEM). The FEM has become

the leading method in computer–oriented mechanics, so that many scientific

branches have grown up besides over the last decades. Nevertheless, the FEM

today is a question of economy. On the one hand its industrial application

is forced to reduce product development costs and time, on the other hand

a large number of commercial FEM codes and a still growing number of

software for effective pre– and postprocessors are available in the meantime.