Computational structural mechanics. From national defense to national resource

Computer modeling has become indispensable to the engineering process, from initially refining an idea with computer-aided tools to implementing the final steps in manufacturing a product. Computer models help the research engineer unravel the basic physical phenomena in real processes, and they can also save time and money. Before the advent of modern computers, many engineering tasks required expensive and timeconsuming physical tests in the laboratory or field, and entailed formidable manual calculations. Although these tests are still required to meet some guidelines, we can now efficiently simulate many processes by computer. Virtually all major programs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory rely on engineering. The author argues that the unique nature of the lab´s work imposes modeling requirements that are usually more complex and on a larger scale than those faced by the broader engineering design community. He stresses that, in fact, their engineers have developed structural-mechanics computer programs, or codes, that contribute regularly to the computer modeling technology base.<>