Comments on Variational Method and Energy Method in Computational Mechanics

Abstract

Abstract. The article demonstrates that the energy method utilized in computational mechanics is a special form of the variational method through mathematical deduction and comparison to the two methods. The result discloses a basic fact that mechanical computations performed by different methods are intrinsically related in some way. The article also points out that a deep study on this intrinsic relation is necessary and helpful to guarantee loyalty of the computational results to the computed objectives.