Solution

to practice problem Week 3

Simplifying the problem, I can represent it as follows:



Node A
Node B
Element
1






Element 2




= 36.869

Node C



Let us consider element 1:

There are two degrees of freedom at each node A and B in the global truss
coordinate system. Lets call them ! and ! at node A and ! and ! at node B as
shown in the figure below.

Y

Node A
Node B

Element 1


!
!


!
!



X

The global coordinate system is shown as XY using the dashed lines.

Given the transformation matrix =

!"
0

!"
0

!"

0

!"

where, !" = and !" = and is the orientation to the global

coordinate system., we can easily find the global stiffness matrix for element 1 as
follows:

! = ! ! []
where ! =

!"
!

!"

1
1

1

1

For element 1, ! = 7.55, and = 0

1 0 0 0
0 0 1 0

! ! ! !
1 0 1 0 !

and, ! = 7.55 0 0 0 0 !
!
1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 !

Now, let us consider element 2 with degrees of freedom at each node as ! and
! at node C and ! and ! at node B and = 36.869.

Substituting in the same equation of and , we get,

! ! ! !
0.65
0.48 0.65 0.48 !
0.35 0.48 0.35 !
! = 65 0.48
!
0.65 0.48
0.65 0.48
!
0.48 0.35
0.48 0.35

Now, the global stiffness matrix for the entire system should be assembled to
lead to a 6x6 matrix as follows:

0
0
0
7.55 0 7.55
0
0
0
0
0
0
3.95 2.885
7.55 0 11.45 2.885
!"#$%" =


0 2.885
2.15
2.885 2.15
0
0 3.95 2.885
0
3.95
2.885
0 2.885 2.15
0
2.885
2.15

The displacement vector will look like:
!
0
!
0
!
!
! = !
!
0
!
0

The force vector will look like:

!!
0
!!
0
!!
0
=

!!
100
0
!!
0
!!

The nodes A and B are clamped so the corresponding displacements are zero,
reducing the equilibrium equation to:


So, that gets us to:

0
11.45 2.885 !
=

2.885 2.15
!
100

! = 1.8 !! ! = 7.3 !!

You can verify the reaction forces by yourself to check for accuracy.