Equbay Leake

Mekelle University
Ethiopian Institute of Technology-Mekelle (EiT-M)
School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Mekelle, Ethiopia
Introduction to truss structure
The simple line elements discussed in the previous lessons introduce the
concepts of nodes, nodal displacements, and element stiffness
matrices.
In this lesson, creation of a finite element model of a mechanical system
composed of any number of elements is considered.
The discussion is limited to plane truss structures, which can be define
as structures composed of bar elements subjected to axial forces only,
all lie in a common plane and are connected by frictionless pins.
The plane truss also must have loads acting only in the common plane
and all loads must be applied at the nodes or joints.
Satisfaction of this restriction requires that all members of the truss be
bar elements and that the elements be connected by pin joints such
that each element is free to rotate about the joint.
Although the bar element is inherently one dimensional, it is quite
effectively used in analyzing two- dimensional trusses as in this
lesson.
Transformation of vectors in two dimensions
In many problems it is convenient to introduce both local (x, y) and
global (X, Y) coordinates.
Local coordinates are always chosen to represent the individual
element conveniently. Global coordinates are chosen to be
convenient for the whole structure.
Given

the nodal displacement of an element, represented by the vector
d in the figure.
Then we want to relate global displacement components to local ones.
In so doing, we will develop a transformation matrix that will
subsequently be used to develop the global stiffness matrix for a bar
element.
We define the angle Ɵ to be positive when measured counterclockwise
from X to x.
 We can express vector displacement d in both global and local
coordinates by
    
d  U1 I  V1 J  u1 i  v1 j
It is possible to relate I andJ to i and

j using

the
 
figure above. Using
vector addition I  A B and J  C  D
The magnitude of the two vectors can be determined as
     
A  I cos  and B  I sin   A  cos  and B  sin 
     
C  J cos  and D  J sin   C  cos  and D  sin 

Now A and D are in the i direction and B and C are in the j direction
       
A  A i  cos  i and B  B j   sin  j
       
C  C j  cos  j and D  D i  sin  i

Therefore, the relation ship between the unit vectors is

     
I  cos  i  sin  j and J  sin  i  cos  j
Now let’s substitute to the vector d

  
   
  
d  U1  cos  i  sin  j   V1  sin  i  cos  j   u1 i  v1 j
   
From this equation U1 cos   V1 sin   u1
 U1 sin   V1 cos   v1
This equation in matrix form by setting cosƟ=C and sinƟ=S
 C S  U1  u1 
 S C  V   v 
  1   1 
[T]{D}={d} where [T] is transformation matrix, {D} global
displacement vector and {d} local displacement vector
But since in truss structure we are using bar element the value of
v1=0 C S U1  u1 for two end of the bar element
U1 
 
C S 0 0   V1  u1 
0 0 C S  U   u 
  2   2 
V2  [T]{D}={d}
 Global Stiffness Matrix for Bar Arbitrary
Oriented in Plane
We now consider a bar inclined at an angle θ from the global X axis
identified by the local axis x directed from node 1 to node 2 along the
direction of the bar, as shown in figure. Here positive angle θ is taken
counterclockwise from X to x.
We now use small letter notation to denote the local element stiffness
matrix {k} which relates the local coordinate nodal forces {f} to local
nodal displacements {d} .
 f1x  EA  1  1 u1 
     
 2x  L 
f  1 1  u2 
 f   k d 
We now want to relate the global element nodal forces {F} to the global
nodal displacements [D] for a bar element arbitrarily oriented with
respect to the global axes.
This relationship will yield the global stiffness matrix [K] of the element.
That is, we want to find a matrix [K] such that
 F1x  U 1 
 F1 y  V1 
 
 F   K U 
 2x   2
 F2 y  V2 
F   K D
By using relationships between local and global force components and
between local and global displacement components, we will be able to
obtain the global stiffness matrix.
 u1   C S 0 0  U1 
v1   S C 0 0   V1 
u       d   T D similarly  f   T F 
 2  0 0 C S  U 2 
v2   0 0 
 S C  V2 
Also the elemental stiffness matrix [k] must be expanded to a 4x4 matrix
and the relation between the elemental nodal force and elemental nodal
displacement is expressed as follow:
 f1x   1 0  1 0 u1 
f   0 0 0 0 v 
 1 y EA    1    f   k d 
 
 f 2 x  L  1 0 1 0 u2 
 f2 y    
   0 0 0 0  v2 

Therefore, substituting the transformed global force and displacement

vector to the elemental force and displacement vector of the above
equation, we obtain:
 C S 0 0   F1x   1 0  1 0  C S 0 0  U1 
 S C 0 0   F   0 0 0 0   S C 0 0   V 
  
 1y   EA     1 
 0 0 C S   F2 x  L  1 0 1 0  0 0 C S  U 2 
      
 0 0  S C  
F2 y  0 0 0 0  0 0  S C  V2 
T F   k T D
Since the transformation matrix is orthagonal matrix, its inverse and
transpose are equal.
In order to solve the displacement multiply both sides by the transpose of
the transformation matrix
 F1x  C S 0 0  1 0 1 0  C S 0 0  U1 
F  
 1y   S C 0 0  EA  0 0 0 0  S C 0 0   V1 
   
 F2 x   0 0 C  S  L  1 0 1 0  0 0 C S  U 2 
 F2 y   0 0 S C
 
0 0 0

0  0 0

 S C  V2 
F   T T k T D  F   K D
The global stiffness matrix is then
C S 0 0  1 0 1 0  C S 0 0
S C 0 0  EA  0 0 0 0  S C 0 0 
K   
0 0 C  S  L  1 0 1 0  0 0 C S
    
0 0 S C 0 0 0 0  0 0  S C
K   T T k T 
First, Multiply the transpose matrix with the element matrix
C 0  C 0  C S 0 0 
 0  S 0  S C 0 0 
EA  S
K  
L  C 0 C 0  0 0 C S 
  
 S 0 S 0  0 0  S C 

Then multiply both matrices to obtain the global stiffness matrix as

 C2 SC  C2  SC 
 
S2  SC  S2 
K    2
EA  SC
L C  SC C2 SC 
 
 SC  S2 SC S 2 
The global stiffness matrix for each element can be summed up by using
the direct stiffness method to obtain
n
 k   K 
Similarly, each element global nodal forcee1matrix can be summed up as:
n
  f   F  n n
Therefore, the relation of the whole will be   f    k D  F   K D
e 1

e 1 e 1
Therefore, the expanded form of the relationship is
 F1x   C2 SC  C2  SC  U1 
F    
 1 y  EA  SC S2  SC  S 2  V1 
    
 F2 x  L   C
2
 SC C2 SC  U 2 

 F2 y   SC  S2 SC S  V2 
2
 
Example
For the plane truss composed of the three elements shown in figure below
subjected to a downward force of 10,000lb applied at node 1, determine
the X and Y displacements at node 1 and the stresses in each element.
Let 6 and for all elements. The lengths of the elements
 30 x10
areEshown psifigure.
in the A  2in.2
The angle of the members with positive X axis is 90, 45, and 0. so their sine
and cosine value are tabulated below

Element one
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
The element matrix in 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 
global coordinate system is 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
2 * 30 *10 6 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
k1e   0
120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Element two
The element matrix in global coordinate system is

0.354 0.354 0 0  0.354  0.354 0 0

0.354 0.354 0 0  0.354  0.354 0 0

 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
2 * 30 *10 6  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k1e     0.354  0.354 
120 0 0  0.354  0.354 0 0
 
  0.354  0.354 0 0  0.354  0.354 0 0 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Element Strain and Stress
The final computational step in finite element analysis of a plane truss
structure is to utilize the global displacements obtained in the solution
step to determine the strain and stress in each element of the truss.
The displacement will be transformed as
U1 
u1  U1 cos   V1 sin   
u1  C S 0 0  V1 
u2  U 2 cos   V2 sin     
u2  0 0 C S  U 2 
V2 
The strain in the element is d   T D
U1 
 
u1  C S 0 0  V1 
 x  N1 ( x) N 2 ( x) N T D
d d
 N1 ( x) N 2 ( x) 
du d
x       x 
dx dx u2  dx 0 0 C S  U 2  dx
The stress in the element is V2 

U1  U1 
   
d  x x  C S 0 0  V1  E C S 0 0  V1 
 x  E x  E 1        1 1  
dx  L L  0 0 C S  U 2  L 0 0 C S  U 2 
V2  V2 
 U1 
V 
The stress in the element is then   E  C  S C  
x S  1 
L U 2 
Example V2 

The two-element truss shown in the figure is subjected to

external loading as shown. Using the same node and
element numbering as in figure, determine the displacement
components of node 3, the reaction force components at
nodes 1 and 2, and the element displacements, stresses, and
forces. The elements have modulus of elasticity E1  E2  10 *106 lb / in 2
and cross-sectional areas A  A  1.5 in
1 2
2