手法を比較

	有限要素解析	分子動力学
分野	材料科学	材料科学
系統	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
提唱年	1943	1957
提唱者	Richard Courant	Alder and Wainwright
種類	Computational method	Simulation method
原典	Zienkiewicz, O. C., & Taylor, R. L. (1977). The Finite Element Method in Engineering Science. McGraw-Hill.	Alder, B. J., & Wainwright, T. E. (1957). Phase transition for a hard sphere system. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 27(5), 1208-1209.
別名	FEA, finite element method	MD simulation, molecular dynamics simulation, atomistic simulation
関連	4	3
概要	Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a numerical technique for obtaining approximate solutions to boundary value problems described by differential equations. Developed systematically by Richard Courant in 1943 and popularized by Clough in the 1960s, FEA divides a complex domain into smaller, simpler elements to solve engineering problems involving stress, strain, heat transfer, and fluid flow. It is the dominant computational method in materials science for predicting material behavior under various loading conditions.	Molecular Dynamics (MD) is a computational technique that simulates the motion of atoms and molecules by solving Newton's equations of motion under specified forces. Pioneered by Alder and Wainwright in 1957, MD integrates time-dependent atomic trajectories from initial positions, allowing prediction of material properties, phase transitions, and dynamic behavior. It bridges the gap between quantum mechanics (which determines interatomic forces) and macroscopic phenomena (accessible only through experiment), enabling study of timescales from femtoseconds to microseconds and length scales from angstroms to hundreds of nanometers.