Technology and Engineering Atlas

How Things Are Built
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Engineer

Alexander Hrennikoff

Civil Engineering

Russian-Canadian structural engineer, a founder of the Finite Element Method. He developed the lattice analogy, modeling membrane and plate bending of structures as a lattice framework, while working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the work is now considered a turning point on the path to the Finite Element Method. From 1933 until his death he was a professor of civil engineering at the University of British Columbia. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth Year
1896 1
Birth Date
1896-11-11 1
Death Year
1984 1
Death Date
1984-12-31 1
Nationality
Russian-Canadian 1
Connections

Associated With

Devised the framework method that became a forerunner of the finite element method used across structural engineering.

In Field

Professor of civil engineering at the University of British Columbia from 1933 until his death.

Source Alexander Hrennikoff (Wikipedia)

Invented

Developed the lattice analogy at MIT, considered the turning point on the path to the Finite Element Method; the term "finite element" itself was coined later by Ray W. Clough (1960).

Source Alexander Hrennikoff (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Alexander Hrennikoff (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • lead sentence
    Alexander Pavlovich Hrennikoff (11 November 1896 - 31 December 1984) was a Russian-Canadian structural engineer, a founder of the Finite Element Method.
  • Biography section, second paragraph
    During his work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he developed the lattice analogy which models membrane and plate bending of structures as a lattice framework. While this work received little attention at the time because of the lack of computational power, it is often considered as the turning point in the Time-Line of the Structural Analysis leading to development of the Finite Element Method.
  • In Field: Civil Engineering, Biography section, first paragraph
    From 1933 until his death in 1984 he worked as a professor of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia.
View the Source
Frequently Asked Questions

What was Alexander Hrennikoff's lattice analogy?

A method modeling membrane and plate bending as a lattice framework, a turning point toward the Finite Element Method.

While working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hrennikoff developed the lattice analogy, which modeled membrane and plate bending of structures as a lattice framework. The work is now considered a turning point on the path to the Finite Element Method, of which he is regarded as a founder.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.