Basic FEA Project Work

Evaluation of the Stress Concentration

Factor for a finite width rectangular plate
with an offset hole under axial load using
MSC.NASTRAN.

Submitted by : Vijay V
Date : 19th April 2017

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Reference

1. Petersons Stress Concentration Factor 3rd Edition.

2. MSC.NASTRAN 2008r1 reference manual.
3. MSC.NASTRAN 2008r1 Quick Reference Guide.

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Objective
This example computes the stress concentration factor of a finite width rectangular
plate with an offset circular hole under axial load using finite element methods. The
objective of this problem is to validate the stress concentration factor obtained using
FEA with theoretical results from Ref[1]
All FE-analysis is carried using MSC.NASTRAN 2008r1
The FE-analysis compares the accuracy and the rate of convergence b/w the standard
4-noded lower order iso-parametric quadrilateral shell element (CQUAD4 ) vis--vis
the 8-noded higher order iso-parametric quadrilateral shell element with curved
edges(CQUAD8).
A separate run using p-elements is carried out to demonstrate their accuracy. P-
elements are elements that have variable degrees-of-freedom. The user can specify
the polynomial order for each element in each global direction (Px, Py, and Pz) and
the solver will generate the degrees-of-freedom required.

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 Problem Description

e
sgross H sgross
+q
a
c

smax

Consider a finite width rectangular plate of width H subjected to a uni-axial state

of stress sgross.
The axis of the hole is parallel to the applied stress field.
The location of the peak stress at the hole is at the location of the red dot titled
smax which occurs at q = 270deg from the horizontal axis of the hole.

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Problem Description - continued
The dimensions, loading and mechanical properties of the plate element are as
follows:
H = 1.40625 inches
a = 0.078125 inches
e = 1.203125 inches
c = 0.203125 inches
Thickness of the plate element = 0.060 inches
sgross = 1.00 lbs/in2
Youngs Modulus = 10,300,000 lbs/in2
Poisson's ratio = 0.33
From Ref[1] the peak stress at the hole smax = 3.41 lbs/in2
The stress concentration factor based on sgross = Ktg = smax / sgross = 3.41 /1.00 = 3.41
The FE-based analysis should target this value of Ktg.

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Finite Element Modeling & Strategy
The finite element model was constructed using the standard 4-noded lower order
iso-parametric quadrilateral shell element (CQUAD4 )
The variable in the analysis was the number of elements used around the
circumference of the hole.
The number of elements around the circumference was varied from 10 to 50
elements and the max stress at the every iteration was noted.
A standard mesh convergence curve was constructed with the Ktg on the y-axis
and the number of elements around the circumference on the x-axis.
The analysis is stopped when no appreciable change in the Ktg is noted for an
increase in the number of the elements around the circumference of the hole.
The same procedure is repeated using the 8-noded higher order iso-parametric
quadrilateral shell element (CQUAD8) & convergence rates b/w CQUAD4 and
CQUAD8 are noted.

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Results and Discussions
A tabular presentation of the mesh convergence results for both CQUAD4 and
CQUAD8 is presented below:

Number of
elements
around the Ktg (CQUAD4) Ktg (CQUAD8) Ktg (Theory)
circumference
of the hole

10 2.21 2.68 3.41

20 3.15 3.21 3.41

30 3.26 3.33 3.41

40 3.40 3.40 3.41

50 3.41 3.41 3.41

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Results and Discussions
A typical mesh convergence curve for the current problem using CQUAD4 &
CQUAD8 elements is shown below.

3.60

3.40

3.20

3.00
Ktg

Theory
2.80 FEM (CQUAD4)
FEM (CQUAD8)
2.60

2.40

2.20
0 10 20 30 40 50
Number of Elements around the circumference of the hole
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Results and Discussions
A plot of the normalised peak stress (defined as smax(theory) / smax(FEA) ) vs the
number of elements around the circumference of the hole is shown.

1.60

1.50

1.40
Normalised Peak Stress

1.30

1.20 FEM (CQUAD4)

FEM (CQUAD8)
1.10

1.00

0.90
0 10 20 30 40 50
Number of Elements around the circumference of the hole
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Results and Discussions
The maximum stress plot for the final converged mesh size is shown below.
The component of stress shown is sx where X is the global X-direction which is
aligned with sgross

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Discussions
The max stress convergence plot shows a monotonic convergence which is typical of
displacement based FEA.
Faster convergence rates observed for the mid-noded CQUAD8 element especially on
coarse grid models which is to be expected as this particular element employs a
quadratic shape function. The presence of the mid-node also allows for better
descritization of the geometry.
However when sufficient number of elements are used around the circumference of
the hole, the CQUAD4 results converge to the CQUAD8 and the theoretical value.
Both results (using CQUAD4 & CQUAD8) illustrate the need to have a fine grid FEM in
the region of the stress concentration to capture the stress fields.
The degree of fineness cannot be quantified as this is highly dependent on the
geometry ( type, shape, location and number of the holes) and the loading (uni-axial,
bi-axial, etc)
Generating a fine grid FEM is both a time consuming and a labor intensive task.
An alternative way of looking at this problem is using MSC.NASTRANs p-elements
which give the user the option of changing the order of the polynomial within the
element without changing the density of the mesh. This is explored in the subsequent
slides.

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MSC.NASTRAN p-elements
p-elements are elements that have variable degrees-of-freedom. The user can specify
the polynomial order for each element and in each global direction (Px, Py, and Pz) and
the solver will generate the degrees-of-freedom required.
With the h-version elements, geometry was determined by the addition of midside grid
points to the element definition. With the p-version elements, geometrical entities
have been introduced into the element. The edges and faces of elements can be
defined to lie on curves and surfaces, which can span an arbitrary number of elements,
and midside grid points do not have to be defined.
The p-elements may be connected directly to the existing h-elements, and continuity is
automatically enforced. This provides global/local analysis in a single run without
altering the mesh size.
The given problem is now solved using p-elements using a coarse grid FEM which has
just 20 elements around the circumference of the hole. But these 20 elements are p-
elements whose polynomial order would be increased till convergence is obtained. The
remaining elements in the model would be h-elements.
No special modeling techniques or transition elements are needed b/w the h & p
elements as the solver internally lower the order of the polynomial for the p-elements
at the edges where it meets the h-elements in-order to enforce displacement
compatibility.

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MSC.NASTRAN p-elements - Results
A tabular presentation of the mesh convergence results using p-elements is
presented below:

Order of the
Ktg (FEA) Ktg (Theory)
polynomial (p=n)

2 3.41 3.41

3 3.40 3.41

4 3.44 3.41

5 3.44 3.41

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MSC.NASTRAN p-elements - Results
A typical mesh convergence curve for the current problem using p-elements is
shown below.

3.45

3.44

3.43

3.42
Ktg

3.41 Theory
FEM (P-elements)
3.40

3.39

3.38
0 1 2 3 4 5
Polynomial Order p=n

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Discussions
The max stress converges with p=5 and the results are within 1% accuracy when
compared to the theoretical results.
These results were achieved with a coarse grid FEM which when used with h-
elements resulted in a error of ~6% for CQUAD8 and ~8% for CQUAD4 when
compared with theoretical results.
The advantage of using p-elements over traditional h-based adaptive meshing
cannot be overlooked when dealing with detailed stress analysis using FEA.

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