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for small strains. In addition, the stresses must be related to the strains through the
stress/strain lawgenerally called the constitutive law.
Using any of the methods listed above the equations to describe the behavior of an element are
obtained. These equations are written conveniently in matrix form as
Where {f } is the vector of element nodal forces, {k}is the element stiffness matrix (normally
square and symmetric), and {d} is the vector of unknown element nodal degrees of freedom or
generalized displacements, n.
Step 5 Assemble the Element Equations to Obtain the Global or Total Equations and Introduce
Boundary Conditions:
In this step the individual element nodal equilibrium equations generated in step 4 are assembled
into the global nodal equilibrium equations. The final assembled or global equation written in
matrix form is
Where {F} is the vector of global nodal forces, {K} is the structure global or total stiffness matrix,
(for most problems, the global stiffness matrix is square and symmetric) and {d} is now the vector
of known and unknown structure nodal degrees of freedom/or generalized displacements.
Step 6 Solve for the Unknown Degrees of Freedom (or Generalized Displacements):
The above equations in the matrix form can be solved for the displacements (primary unknowns)
by applying boundary conditions and loads used in the problem. This is achieved using an
elimination method (such as Gausss method) or an iterative method (such as the GaussSeidel
method).
Step 7 Solve for the Element Strains and Stresses:
For the structural stress-analysis problem, important secondary quantities of strain and stress (or
moment and shear force) can be obtained because they can be directly expressed in terms of the
displacements determined in step 6. Typical relationships between strain and displacement and
between stress and strain discussed in STEP 3 can be used for this purpose.
f 1x and f 2x for the spring element associated with the local axis ^x. The local axis acts in the
direction of the spring so that we can directly measure displacements and forces along the spring.
^
The local nodal displacements are d 1x and d 2x for the spring element. These nodal displacements
are called the degrees of freedom at each node. Positive directions for the forces and
Prepared by Subash Acharya, Krishna Kumar and Kevin A. Mathias
displacements at each node are taken in the positive x direction as shown from node 1 to node
2 in the figure. The symbol k is called the spring constant or stiffness of the spring.
Figure 2: Linear spring element with positive nodal displacement and force conventions
Let this element be subjected to resulting nodal tensile forces T (which may result from the action
of adjacent springs) directed along the spring axial direction x as shown in Figure 3, so as to be
in equilibrium.
To calculate the constants a1 and a2 let us apply boundary conditions and simplify as follows:
Where N1 and N2 are shape functions because the Nis express the shape of the assumed
displacement function over the domain (^x coordinate) of the element when the ith element
degree of freedom has unit value and all other degrees of freedom are zero. In this case, N1 and
N2 are linear functions that have the properties that N1 = 1 at node 1 and N1 = 0 at node 2,
whereas N2 =1 at node 2 and N2 = 0 at node 1. See Figure 4 and for plots of these shape functions
over the domain of the spring element. Also, N1 + N2 = 1 for any axial coordinate along the bar.
Step 5 Assemble the Element Equations to Obtain the Global Equations and Introduce Boundary
Conditions:
The global stiffness matrix and global force matrix are assembled using nodal force equilibrium
equations, force/deformation. This step applies for structures composed of more than one
element such that
Note: