CHAPTER 8 – FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSISFinite Element Analysis (FEA) is a practical application of the Finite Element Method (FEM) for predicting the response behavior of structures or fluids to applied factors such as forces, pressures, heats, and vibrations. Usually, the process starts with the creation of a geometric model. Then the model is subdivided (meshed) into small pieces (elements) of simple geometric shapes connected at specific node points. The material properties and the boundary conditions are applied to each element. Finally, software such as NX 12 solves this FEA problem and outputs results and visualizations. It helps engineers to have a better understanding of the product performance before it is fabricated and tested.Some of the applications of FEA are Structural Analysis, Thermal Analysis, Fluid Flow Dynamics, and Electromagnetic Compatibility. Of these, FEA is most commonly used in structural and solid mechanics applications for calculating the mechanical behavior (e.g. stresses and displacements). These are often critical to the performance of the hardware and can be used to predict failures. In this chapter, we are going to deal with the structural stress and strain analysis of a solid part.