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ME 559Finite Element Methods

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Mechanical Engineering

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 6 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

A course presenting the fundamental ideas involved in conventional finite element analysis in mechanical engineering. Domain discretization, interpolation and shape functions, element derivation and types, element stiffness or property equations, assembly procedure, boundary conditions, solution methods for the algebraic equation system, applications in heat transfer, fluid flow, and stress analysis. Students will, throughout the course, write and test their own finite element code through individual subroutine construction as the course progresses.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • ME220 - Mechanics of Deformable Solids 2 (0.50)
      • MTE219 - Mechanics of Deformable Solids (0.50)
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • ME303 - Advanced Engineering Mathematics (0.50)
      • MTE204 - Numerical Methods (0.50)
    • Students must be in level 4A or higher
    • Enrolled in H-Mechanical Engineering, or H-Mechatronics Engineering

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • CIVE422 - Finite Element Analysis (0.50)

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 001461742 / 68W 14:30–17:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

78% liked it14% easy82% useful

From 9 ratings and 5 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • This course was a bit of a disappointment. The content itself is interesting. We learned about different types of elements as well as meshing techniques and solvers. The main focus is on setting up system of equations for elastic solid mechanics, with a bit of heat conduction and convection. Most of the math is matrix algebra. The project was to develop stress concentration plots for a plate with either a hole or a pin. It was fairly simply to do, but it was tedious to do the mesh convergence and the different cases. We learned Abaqus in class, but you were allowed to use whatever software you liked. There was also 3 assignments for our class and a final exam, which was open book but…

    Dec 2022 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Extremely interesting content, but the execution of the course can be a complete disaster depending on the professor. This course explains the mathematics underlying FEA software, which is very interesting. However, a full understanding of the content requires mathematics not contained within the mechanical engineering curriculum (Such as calculus of variations). Projects can also be very difficult and time consuming even for students already experiences with FEA and with very strong mathematical backgrounds. This course has the potential to be amazing or a terrible nightmare depending on the professor.

    Dec 2019 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Only useful if you plan on doing any FEA in your career. Very technical, pretty much just talks about the math behind FEA. 2 term projects made up the practical portion of the course. The 1st one, we create our own FEA solver. The 2nd one was a huge project in Abaqus. It was as if we did the entire CFD course in one project in this course.

    Jan 2019 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • It's more focused on the math behind FEM rather than practical use in the workplace. I'd prefer it to be structured more like ME 566.

    Dec 2017 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Introduces the math behind finite elements (linear-elastic and steady-state thermal only). Does not teach good meshing procedures or many other details in terms of the common errors or mistakes regarding FEM.

    Aug 2017 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

12 posts and comments in 10 threads mention ME 559, June 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Winter 2022

Help with ANSYS! 4 points, 2 comments

“anyone have any experience with ANSYS Mechanical? i am struggling a tad bit for one of my projects. any help is appreciated! dm me pls”

u/RedReddnReddit: “What’s your course name & code? I don’t know Ansys unfortunately, but would like to learn it.”

u/zorgo_21: “It's not part of any course but more for a project. If you're interested in doing finite element analysis, try taking FEM as a technical elective (ME559) I believe. Hope this helps!”

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Fall 2021

Winter 2021

Spring 2020

Fall 2019

Winter 2019

Mech TEs help 6 points, 4 comments

[deleted]: “Has anyone taken ME566 or ME559? Which one would you recommend?”

u/timmoer: “… With ME559, there are two projects, one of which is where you do FEA with ABAQUS. But the majority of the course is focused on a lot of the math behind the FEA, and the exams consist of using finite element methods to solve problems by hand. …”

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Winter 2018

need some advise on 4th year mech courses 6 points, 10 comments

u/shaysura: “… Fluid Dynamics ME 564 - Aerodynamics   ME 524 - Adv Dynamics and Vibrations ME 559 - Finite Element Methods   ME 436 - Welding & Joining Processes ME 533 - Non-metallic and Composite Materials   ME 452 - Energy Transfer in Buildings ME 456 - Heat Transfer 2 ME 459 …”

u/WarpdriveEngineer: “… -ME 559: this will teach you little to nothing about practical FEA. However, my coop after taking this class was all FEA, and I felt that I benifited from having the fundemental understanding it gave me. Won't be hard if you can remember your lin alg and do basic matlab. …”

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Fall 2017

Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments

“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”

u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”

u/Jackhofmann: “… ME 360 ME 362 ME 380 ME 400A ME 401 ME 423 ME 435 ME 436 ME 456 ME 459 ME 481 ME 482 ME 548 ME 559 ME 561 ME 566 ME 599 ME 620 ME 627 ME 632 ME 651 ME 659 ME 662 ME 673 ME 680 ME 682 ME 720 ME 738 ME 753 ME 760 ME 765 ME 770 ME 780 MEDVL 115 MEDVL 250R MNS 10 MNS 101 MNS 211 MNS …”

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Winter 2016

Would people be interested in a Youtube channel which consisted of video tutorials for upper-year UW courses? 50 points, 23 comments

“For lower year classes, like Cal1, there are plenty of resources available for students online that an extra YouTube channel is probably redundant, but upper year classes often have a dearth of …”

u/00vapour: “FEM.”

u/DinoBooster: “Finite Element Methods? As in, ME 559? Sure, that's doable! I've taken Advanced Math courses in numerical methods and am currently doing a project which involves the use of Finite Element Methods if that's what you're talking about.”

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Spring 2015

Any mech eng doing/done the tron option? 1 point, 6 comments

“I just wanna know if there are any mech eng that are doing/done the tron option. I wanna know what courses you took to complete the option (ECE or MTE courses?) and if doing the option itself was …”

u/annihilatron: “https://uwaterloo.ca/mechanical-mechatronics-engineering/future-undergraduate-students/mechanical-engineering/specializations-and-options bottom of the page; link to …”

u/annihilatron: “… - ME 559, IIRC from what I heard, is an extension/parallel to 555, it's all computer aided and you're doing math on designs. Sort of like the machines course but now on your CADs. …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

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