In the finite element method, the behavior (stresses, strains and displacements resulting from load conditions) of large-scale structures is approximated by a FE model consisting of structural elements (members) connected at structural node points. Calculations on traditional computers are performed at each node point and results communicated to adjacent node points until the behavior of the entire structure is computed. On the Finite Element Machine, microprocessors located at each node point perform these nodal computations in parallel. If there are more node points (N) than microprocessors (P), then each microprocessor performs N/P computations. The Finite Element Machine contained 32 processor boards each with a Texas Instruments TMS9900 processor, 32 Input/Output (IO) boards and a TMS