The finite element method

Began in 1940s to help solve

problems in elasticity and structures
It has evolved to solve nonlinear,
thermal, structural, and
electromagnetic problems
Key commercial codes are ANSYS,
ABAQUS, Nastran, etc.
Well use ANSYS, but other codes are
as good or better (a religious
question)
The Process
Build a model
Geometry
Material Properties
Discretization/mesh
Boundary conditions
Load
Solve
Postprocessing

Structural Elements
Truss
Beam
s
Planar
3-D
Plate
Elements
Truss
Beam
Plana
r
Shell
Brick
Finite Element Fundamentals
The building block of FEM is the
element stiffness matrix
1
3
2
a
a

(
(
(
(

+ + +

3
3
2
2
1
1
66 62 61
26 22 21
16 12 11
3
3
2
2
1
1
v
u
v
u
v
u
k k k
k k k
k k k
f
f
f
f
f
f
y
x
y
x
y
x
Now Put Several Together
4
5
1
2
3
6
9
8 7
{ } | |{ } U K F =
Global Stiffness
{ }

=
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
F
9
9
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
{ }

=
9
9
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
U
[K] is a composite of the
element stiffness elements

Once K is known, we can
choose forces and calculate
displacements, or choose
displacements and
calculate forces

Boundary conditions are
needed to allow solution
Element Stiffness
1
3
2
a
a
u
3
u
2
u
1
v
2
v
1
v
3
f
3x
f
1x
f
2x
f
2y
f
1y
f
3y
y
x
How Do We Get Element
Stiffness?
a c c v a c c u
a c c v a c c u
c v c u
a y x
y a x
y x
y c x c c y x v
y c x c c y x u
assume
6 4 3 3 1 3
5 4 2 2 1 2
4 1 1 1
3 3
2 2
1 1
6 5 4
3 2 1
;
;
;
; 0
0 ;
0 ; 0
) , (
) , (
+ = + =
+ = + =
= =
= =
= =
= =
+ + =
+ + =
{ } { }
{ } | | { }
| |

(
(
(

(
(
(

=
=

(
(
(

3
2
1
3
2
1
1
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 0
1
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 0
1
0 1
0 1
0 0 1
] [
u
u
u a
a
c
c
c
a
a
A
u A c
c
c
c
a
a
u
u
u
c A u
Coordinates
of element
corners
Substitute
coordinates
into assumed
functions
Rewrite as
matrix
equation
Continued
{ } | |
{ } | |

(
(
(

(
(
(

3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 0
1
1
1
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 0
1
u
u
u a
y x
a
u
c
c
c
y x u
u
u
u a
a
c
c
c
{ } | | ( )
( )
( ) ( )y u u x u u au
a
y x u
u u
u u
au
y x
a
u
3 1 2 1 1
3 1
2 1
1
1
) , (
1
1
+ + + + =

+
+ =
Rewrite
assumed
functions
Substitute
Multiply
Continued
( )
3 3 2 2 1 1
3
2
1
3 3 2 2 1 1
3 2 1
) , (
1
) , (
1
) , (
v N v N v N y x v
Similarly
a
y
N
a
x
N
a
y
a
x
N
u N u N u N y x u
yu xu u y x a
a
y x u
+ + =
=
=
=
+ + =
+ + =
Collect terms
Stress-Strain
3 3 2 2 1 1
3 3 2 2 1 1
3
2
1
) , (
) , (
1
v N v N v N y x v
u N u N u N y x u
a
y
N
a
x
N
a
y
a
x
N
+ + =
+ + =
=
=
=
a
v
a
v
a
u
a
u
x
v
y
u
a
v
a
v
y
v
a
u
a
u
x
u
u
x
N
u
x
N
u
x
N
x
u
xy
y
x
x
2 1 3 1
3 1
2 1
3
3
2
2
1
1
+ + =
c
c
+
c
c
=
+ =
c
c
=
+ =
c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
=
c
c
=

c
c
c
Stress-Strain
| |
| |
| | | | | || | | | | || | B D B tA dV B D B k
a
B
v
u
v
u
v
u
B
T
T
V
xy
y
x
= =
(
(
(

}}}
0 1 1 0 1 1
1 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1 0 1
1
3
3
2
2
1
1

c
c
Comes from
minimizing total
potential energy
(variational
principles)
Material Properties
[D] comes from
the stress-strain
equations
For a linear,
elastic, isotropic
material
{ } | |{ }dV D U
E
D
D
T
V
xy
y
x
xy
y
x
c c
v
v
v
v

c
c
t
o
o
}}}
=
(
(
(
(

2
1
2
1
0 0
0 1
0 1
1
] [
] [
2
Strain Energy
Final Result for Our Case
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+

=
=
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+

=
2 0 0 2 2 2
0 1 1 0 1 1
0 1 1 0 1 1
2 0 0 2 2 2
2 1 1 2 3 1
2 1 1 2 1 3
1 4
] [
2
1
2 0 0 2 2 2
0 1 1 0 1 1
0 1 1 0 1 1
2 0 0 2 2 2
2 1 1 2 3 1
2 1 1 2 1 3
1 2
] [
2
2
2 2
v v
v v v v
v v v v
v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v
v v
v v v v
v v v v
v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v
Et
k
a A
a
AEt
k
or
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+

3
3
2
2
1
1
2
3
3
2
2
1
1
2 0 0 2 2 2
0 1 1 0 1 1
0 1 1 0 1 1
2 0 0 2 2 2
2 1 1 2 3 1
2 1 1 2 1 3
1 4
v
u
v
u
v
u
Et
f
f
f
f
f
f
y
x
y
x
y
x
v v
v v v v
v v v v
v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v
Examples
( ) ( )
( )
1
2
3
3
2
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
3
1 4
u
Et
f
f
f
f
f
f
y
x
y
x
y
x

v
v
v
v
v
v
u
1
Examples
v
1
( ) ( )
( )
1
2
3
3
2
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
3
1
1 4
v
Et
f
f
f
f
f
f
y
x
y
x
y
x

v
v
v
v
v
v
Prescribe forces
F

Process
What do we know? v
1
=v
2
=0; f
3y
=F; all
horizontal forces are 0
Remove rigid body motion arbitrarily
set u
1
=0 to remove horizontal translation;
hence, f
1x
is a reaction
Reduce matrix to essential elements for
calculating unknown displacements
cross out rows with unknown reactions
and columns with displacements that are
0
Solve for displacements
Back-solve for reaction forces
Equations
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )

)

(
(
(

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+

3
3
2
2
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
2 0 2
0 1 0
2 0 2
1 4
0
0
0
0
0
2 0 0 2 2 2
0 1 1 0 1 1
0 1 1 0 1 1
2 0 0 2 2 2
2 1 1 2 3 1
2 1 1 2 1 3
1 4
0
0
v
u
u
Et
F
or
v
u
u
Et
F
f
f
f
y
y
x
v
v
v
v
v v
v v v v
v v v v
v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v
Solution
(
(
(

1
0
2
3
3
2
v
Et
F
v
u
u
Putting 2 Together
a
a
1
2
1 2
3 4
Element 2 Stiffness Matrix
1
3
2
1 (4)
3 (2)
2
(3)
Rotate 180
o
c s 0 0 0 0
-s c 0 0 0 0
0 0 c s 0 0
0 0 -s c 0 0
0 0 0 0 c s
0 0 0 0 -s c
T =
K = T
T
KT
For 180
o
rotation
K=K
Just rearrange the rows and columns top correspond
to global numbering scheme (in red).
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+

4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
2
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 2 0 0 2 2 2
0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
0 0 2 0 0 2 2 2
0 0 2 1 1 2 3 1
0 0 2 1 1 2 1 3
1 4
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
Et
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
v v
v v v v
v v v v
v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+

4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
2
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
3 1 1 2 2 1 0 0
1 3 1 2 2 1 0 0
1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
2 2 0 2 2 0 0 0
2 2 0 2 2 0 0 0
1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 4
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
Et
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
v v v v v
v v v v v
v v v v
v v
v v
v v v v
v
Element Matrices
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
2
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
3 1 1 2 2 1 0 0
1 3 1 2 2 1 0 0
1 1 3 0 0 1 2 2
2 2 0 3 1 0 1 1
2 2 0 1 3 0 1 1
1 1 1 0 0 3 2 2
0 0 2 1 1 2 3 1
0 0 2 1 1 2 1 3
1 4
v
u
v
u
v
u
v
u
Et
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
y
x
y
x
y
x
y
x
v v v v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v v v v v
v
Add the element matrices
What if triangles have midside
nodes?
3
4
5
2
6
1
2
12 11
2
10 9 8 7
2
6 5
2
4 3 2 1
) , (
) , (
y c xy c x c y c x c c y x v
y c xy c x c y c x c c y x u
+ + + + + =
+ + + + + =
What about a quadrilateral element?
3
4
2
1
xy c y c x c c y x v
xy c y c x c c y x u
8 7 6 5
4 3 2 1
) , (
) , (
+ + + =
+ + + =
What about arbitrary shapes?
For most problems, the element
shapes are arbitrary, material
properties are more general, etc.
Typical solution is to integrate stiffness
solution numerically
Typically gaussian quadrature, 4 points
| | | | | || |dV B D B k
T
V
}}}
=