Lesson 1

Introduction to Finite Element Method (FEM)

1.1 What is FEM?

In general FEM can be understood as a technique which seeks solution to field problems. A field
problem can be simply understood as a problem which involves finding the value of some unknown
variable / variables at different points in a domain. The unknown variables are called field variables.
For example, consider any random machine component subjected to a set of external forces. Under the
action of these forces, the component would be experiencing a stress distribution throughout its body
volume. In this case, the domain of interest is the volume of the component and the field variable is
stress. Another example may be a heated up rod made of some metal. In this case again the domain is
the volume of the rod and the field variable of interest is say the temperature. From an engineering
perspective, we would be interested in finding out the temperature at any given point in the whole body
volume of the rod. Commonly, such problems are governed by Ordinary or partial differential
equations involving the field variables as the dependent variables. Having with us the solution of these
differential equations means knowing the value of field variables at any desirable point within the
domain of interest. FEM is an alternative approach to standard techniques of solving such differential
equations. FEM is therefore sometimes also referred to as a numerical technique to find approximate
solutions of differential equations.
FEM involves breaking up the domain into smaller fragments called Finite Elements. This process is
called as discretization or meshing. The word finite has got a significant meaning here. It emphasizes
that the fragments are not infinitesimally small, but are actually measurable finite quantities having real
dimensions.
These elements are connected through number of joints which are called Nodes. While discretizing
the structural system, it is assumed that the elements are attached to the adjacent elements only at the
nodal points. Each element contains the material and geometrical properties. The material properties
inside an element are assumed to be constant. The elements may be 1D elements, 2D elements or 3D
elements. Figure 1 gives a visual understanding of meshing.

Figure 1: Finite element discretization of a domain

Before proceeding on to learn the basic methodology of FEM, it would be good to have a fair idea
about the various shapes of elements that are generally used for meshing of domainsin FEM.

1.2 Various shapes of elements used in FEM

Based on the shapes elements can be classified as
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

One dimensional elements

Two dimensional elements
Axi-symmetric elements and
Three dimensional elements.

One dimensional elements:

These elements are suitable for the analysis of one dimensional problem and may be called as line
elements also. Figure 2 shows different types of one dimensional elements.

Figure 2: One dimensional elements with different no. of nodes

Note here that there may be any number of nodes in a single element as desired for analysis.

Two dimensional elements:

We need two dimensional elements to solve two dimensional problems. Common two dimensional
problemsin stress analysis are plane stress, plane strain and plate problems. Two dimensional elements
often used isthree noded triangular element shown in Figure 3. It has the distinction of being the first
and most usedelement. These elements are known as Constant Strain Triangles (CST) or Linear
Displacement Triangles.

Figure 3: Constant strain triangle

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Six noded and ten noded triangular elements (Figure 4) are also used by the analysts. Six noded
triangularelement is known as Linear Strain Triangle (LST) or as Quadratic Displacement
Triangle. Ten nodedtriangular elements are known as Quadratic Strain Triangles (QST) or Cubic
Displacement Triangles.

Figure 4: (a) Linear strain triangle (b) Quadratic strain triangle

Onecan think of trying the use of still higher order triangular elements like Cubic Strain Triangles and
QuarticStrain Triangles (Figure 5).

Figure 5: (a) Cubic strain triangle (b) Quartic strain triangle

For 2-D analysis, another commonly used element shape is the rectangular shape with different number
of nodes. Figure 6 shows a 4 noded rectangular element which is the simplest form of rectangular
element.

Figure 6: 4- noded rectangular element

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Rectangular elements of higher order also can be used. Figure 7 shows a family of Lagrange
rectangles in which nodes are in the form of grid points. Figure 8 shows the family of Serendipity
rectangles whichare having nodes only along the external boundaries.

Figure 7: Examples of rectangular elements of Lagrange type

Figure 8: Serendipity family rectangular elements

Quadrilateral Elements (as shown in figure 9) are also used in finite element analysis.

Figure 9: Quadrilateral element

Using isoparametric concept (which will be taken up later on in forthcoming lessons) even curved
elements are developed to take care of boundaries of domains with curvedshapes (refer figure 10).

Figure 10: Curved 2-D elements

Axi-symmetric elements:
These are also known as ring type elements. These elements are useful for the analysis of axisymmetricproblems such as analysis of cylindrical storage tanks, shafts, rocket nozzles etc. Axisymmetric elements can beconstructed from one or two dimensional elements. For example, a one
dimensional axi-symmetric element in the form of a conicalfrustum and a two dimensional axisymmetric element in the form of a ring with a triangular cross section are shown in figure 11.

Figure 11: Axi-symmetric elements

Three dimensional elements:

Figure 12 gives a few examples of three dimensional elements that are used in FEA.

Figure 12: (a) Tetrahedral element (b) Rectangular prism (or brick) element
(c) Arbitrary hexahedron element (d) Three dimensional curved element

1.3 Basic methodology (working steps) of FEM

Step 1: Identification of the field variables
For a given problem, first of all it is necessary to identify the field variables as well as the basic
unknowns. It might cross ones mind that the field variables and basic unknowns are the same.
However, this is not the case always. For example, in a rod subjected to axial tensile forces, the aim
might be to find the distribution of stresses in the rod. So we know from the problem that the field
variable in this case is Stress. However, the knowledge of basic solid mechanics tells us that stress
cannot be directly calculated until the displacements, and thus the strains at all points within the domain
are known to us. Stress can be computed directly by dividing the applied force by the cross-section of
the rod in the most simplistic of cases only. This approach is not applicable in the case of non-uniform
stress distribution. Hence in this example, for finding stress, we must find the displacements first.
Therefore here, displacement is the basic unknown which has to be found first. Of course, one might
argue that in this case displacement can also be called as a field variable. No problem! We can say we
have three field variables: Displacement, strainand Stress. Out of these we work with the first to finally
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derive the others to find their values at all points within the domain. Hence every basic unknown
quantity is also a field variable.
Step 2: Discretization of the domain or meshing
In this step, the geometry is discretized into a number of small elements. The elements can be of
different shapes. Each element is characterized by number of points called nodes present in the
element. Complete system of elements is called mesh and the process of generating the elements is also
called mesh generation.
Now the domain can be visualized as containing a lot of nodes and free spaces which are actually the
interior portions of elements where nodes are not situated. Our aim is to find the value of field variables
at all points (nodes as well as spaces in between the nodes).
Step 3: Choice of approximating / interpolating functions (also called as shape functions)
Shape functions or interpolating functions give us the value of a field variable within an element in
terms of the field values at its nodes. Hence if we somehow manage to find the values of field variables
at the nodes in the domain, then using these shape functions we can find the value of these variables at
any random point in the domain.
For example, refer figure 6 which shows a typical rectangular 4 noded element. If the displacement
(u, v)at any random point inside the element is required, when the displacements at the 4 nodes are
known, then we have:

Where, N1, N2, N3, and N4 are shape functions andui andvi (i = 1 to 4) are known displacements along X
and Y directions at the four nodes respectively. These shape functions are generally derived using
polynomial functions. We will discuss them in detail later.
Step 4: Obtain elemental equations
This step involves finding a matrix equation for each element in the domain. This matrix equation in
general gives a relation between: (i) The basic field variable, (ii) Elemental properties pertaining to the
problem at hand (e.g. stiffness of material in stress strain problems), and (iii) The external stimuli
(e.g. external forces applied in case of stress strain problems).
It must be remembered that these equations are relations among above mentioned parameters at nodes
only. In other words, these equations are valid only at the nodal points in the domain, and not inside
any random point within any given element.
Step 5: Assembly of elemental matrices (system of equations) into a single global matrix
Using appropriate techniques (which will be discussed later) the individual matrix equations for each
element are combined (put in place) into a common template structure of a bigger global matrix. The
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position of individual element matrices within the global template depends on the relative positioning
of the actual elements in the domain.
Step 6: Application of boundary conditions
In this step, the assembled system of equations is modified by inserting prescribed boundary conditions.
Step 7: Solution of equations
In this step, modified global system of equations is solved to obtain solution in the form of values of
basic variables at nodes. Procedures like Gauss elimination method can be applied to facilitate this step.
Step 8: Post-processing
In this step, various secondary field variables are computed from the obtained solution. For example,
stresses and strains are computed from the obtained nodal displacements in rod problems involving
axially applied loads.
From these general steps involved in FEM, it is clear that it is a methodology that replaces the
differential equations with algebraic equations by using appropriate approximations for the variables
over the elements.

NOTE: Applications of FEM (Self Study)

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