FEBio supports two analysis types, namely quasi-static and quasi-static poroelastic. In a quasi-static analysis the (quasi-) static response of the system is sought; inertial terms are ignored. In a quasi-static poroelastic analysis a coupled solid-fluid problem is solved. The latter analysis type is useful for modeling tissues that have high water content and the explicit modeling of fluid movement relative to the solid phase is important.

Several nonlinear constitutive models are available to allow the user to model the often complicated biological tissue behavior. Several isotropic constitutive models are supported such as Neo-Hookean, Mooney-Rivlin, Veronda-Westmann, Arruda-Boyce and Ogden. These models have a nonlinear stress-strain response. In addition to the isotropic models, there are several anisotropic models available. These materials show anisotropic behavior in at least one preferred direction and are useful for modeling biological tissues such as tendons, muscles and other tissues that contain fibers. FEBio also contains a rigid body material model, which can be used to model rigid structures whose deformation is negligible compared to the deformable geometry.

Biological tissues can interact in very complicated ways. Therefore FEBio supports a wide range of boundary conditions to model these interactions. These include prescribed displacements, nodal forces, and pressure forces. Deformable models can also be connected to rigid bodies so that the user can model prescribed rotations and torques. Rigid bodies can be connected with rigid joints. Even more complicated interactions can be modeled using FEBio's contact interfaces. The user can choose between different types of contact interfaces, such as sliding interfaces, tied interfaces and rigid wall interfaces. A sliding interface is defined between two surfaces that are allowed to separate and slide across each other but are not allowed to penetrate. The rigid wall interface is also similar to the sliding interface, except that one of the contacting surfaces is a movable rigid wall. As of version 1.2, there is an implementation of a sliding interface that allows for fluid flow crossing the contact interface. The tied interface is similar to the sliding interface, but in this case, the surfaces are not allowed to slide or separate. In addition, the user may specify a body force which can be used to model the effects of gravity or base acceleration.