Unit 5.

Finite Element Analysis

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 UNIT V:FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
Contents
Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA. -basic concept, engineering
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application and types of boundary value problems

2 Shape function for 1 D element linear (2 nodes) and quadratic (3 nodes)

Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element stiffness matrics and

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load vectors,Solution techniques.
4 Analysis of springs, Tutorial - simple problems

5 Simple problems in stepped bar subjected to axial loads

6 Problems in simple structural members for triangular element

7 Procedure for Finite Element Modeling

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1. Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
In
Engineering, We are working hard to find the
“OUTPUT” for a given “INPUT”

For Example,
Field INPUT OUTPUT

Force. Displacement,
Structural
Moments Stress, strain
Heat
Temperature,
Thermal generation,
Thermal stress
Heat flux
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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
Methods of Engineering Analysis

In finding the Output for a given Input in Engineering

applications, the available methods are :
Priority of the Method
1.Experimental Test
2.Analytical method
3.Numerical Method

Experimental and Analytical are favorites however, due

to the limitation of test machine, cost, complexity of the
problem, Numerical Methods are employed to obtain
the workable solution.
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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
Numerical Method

Finds the Approximate Solution to a given Problem.

Types
Finite Element Method (FEM) or Finite Element Analysis
(FEA)
Finite Difference Method (FDM) ...etc

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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA

 Finite Element Analysis – is a Numerical technique to

obtain an approximate solutions for a wide varieties of
problem in engineering field.

 It finds application in the areas include, structural, thermal,

fluid flow, mass transport and electro magnetic potential

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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
Steps involved in FEA

Step 1 : Discretization of structure

The process of dividing a structure into a number of
smaller elements is known as discretization.

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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
 Step 2 : Numbering of Nodes and Elements

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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
Step 3 : Selection of a Displacement function or
Interpolation Function.

It involves choosing a displacement function within each

element.

“SHAPE FUNCTION”

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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
Step 4 : Define the material behavior by using Strain-
Displacement and Stress-Strain relationships

Step 5 : Derivation of element stiffness matrix and

equations.
{F} = [K]{U}

Step 6: Assemble the Element equations to obtain the

global equations {GF}=[GK]{GU}

Step 7: Applying boundary conditions

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1.Introduction to FEA and Steps involved in FEA
Step 8: Solution for the unknown displacement

Step 9: Computation of the element strain and stress from

nodal displacement.

Step10: Interpret the results (Post Processing)

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2. Shape function for 1 D element linear (2 nodes) and
quadratic (3 nodes)
Shape Functions
The shape function is the function that is used to interpolate
the solution between the mesh nodes using the nodal
discrete values. Hence, appropriate functions have to be
used and the shape functions are preferred to be a low order
polynomials.

Shape function for 1D can be derived from the Langrangian

Interpolation function

12 *Soruce : http://www.iue.tuwien.ac.at/phd/orio/node48.html
2. Shape function for 1 D element linear (2 nodes) and
quadratic (3 nodes)
2 Noded 1D Linear element :

Where U1 U 2 are the displacement at the Nodes 1 and 2

respectively and N1 and N2 are the shape functions for two noded
1 D element. And x is the co-ordinate of the corresponding
nodes.
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2. Shape function for 1 D element linear (2 nodes) and
quadratic (3 nodes)


( x  x2 ) ( x  x1 )
N1  N2 
( x1  x2 ) ( x2  x1 )

x
N1  1 
x N2 
L L
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 2. Shape function for 1 D element linear (2 nodes) and
quadratic (3 nodes)
 3 noded Quadratic Element :
The Lagrangian Shape functions for
3 noded quadratic element is :
( x  x2 )( x  x3 )
N1  ( x  L 2)( x  L)
( x1  x2 )( x1  x3 ) N1 
( L2 2)
( x  x1 )( x  x3 )
N2  x( x  L)
( x2  x1 )( x2  x3 ) N2 
( L2 4)

( x  x1 )( x  x2 ) x( x  L 2)
N3  N3 
( x3  x1 )( x3  x2 ) ( L2 2)
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3.1 Derivation of element stiffness matrix
The generalized equation for the Stiffness matrix is given
by
K    BT D B dv
v

For one Dimensional Bar element :

Where,
 dN1 dN 2 
B  
 dx dx 

D  E (For One dimensional problem)

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3.1 Derivation of element stiffness matrix
For 1 D bar element, using the shape function calculated in earlier sections,
x dN1 1 x
N1  1   N2  dN 2 1

L dx L L dx L
Now substituting in [K], we get
 1 L 
L
dv  Adx 
[K ]      E   1 L 1 L  dv
0
1L

On solving we get,
AE  1  1
[K ] 
L  1 1 

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3.1 Derivation of element stiffness matrix
Properties of Stiffness matrix
It is a symmetric matrix
It is an unstable element. So the determinant is zero
The dimension of the global stiffness matrix [K]is N x N
where N is the number of nodes.
The diagonal coefficients are always positive and
relatively large when compared to the off-diagonal values in
the same row.

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3.1 Derivation of element stiffness matrix

Element Stiffness matrix

 k
K e   
k
k 
Spring Element
 k

AE  1  1
[Ke ] 
L  1 1 
Bar Element

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3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques.
Finite Element equation for one dimensional bar element is
,
F   [ K ]{U }
Where {F} is the element force vector, [K] is the stiffness
matrix and {U} is the nodal displacements. And expanding
the Finite element equation for 1D bar element we get,

 f1  AE  1  1 U1 
     
 f 2  L  1 1  U 2 

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3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques.
Assembly of element stiffness matrix
Element stiffness matrix needs to be assembled to obtain
the global stiffness matrix. Lets consider the case of two 1D
bar element (having area A and young’s modulus E) as
shown below having fixed with one and force F on the
other end.

GF   GK GU 

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3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques
 {GF} is the column vector with the size N x 1
 [GK] is the stiffness matrix with the size N x N
 {GU} is the displacement vector with the size N x 1.
 Where N is the number of nodes

 For the case consider here , Number of Nodes = 3 and

Number of element is 2.

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 3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques
The element stiffness matrix for element 1 and 2 are :
AE  1  1 AE  1  1
[ K1 ]  [K2 ] 
L  1 1  L  1 1 

Inorder to facilitate the assembly of element matrix, it is

required to start with the connectivity matrix. Connectivity
matrix (CN), contains how each element is connected with
the domain. Now for this example,

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3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques
 Now Position the connectivity of each element over its
corresponding stiffness matrix.

 The size of global stiffness matrix is 3 x 3 for this case.

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3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques
 On substituting the each element matrix into global
matrix by matching the corresponding rows and column
we get,
 1 1 0 
AE  
[GK ]   1 2  1
L  
 0  1 1 

 Now the global FE equations is

 f1   1  1 0  U1 
  AE    
 f2     1 2  1 U 2 
 f  L  0  1 1  U 
 3   3 

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3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques
Applying Boundary Conditions :
The Node 1 is fixed and hence, 1st row and 1st column, in
global FE equation, needs to be made zero. Further Force F
is acting on Node 3 and No forces on other nodes. On
imposing the above boundary condition we get,

 0  AE  2  1 U 2 
   1 1  U 
 
F L   3 

 The above matrix can be solved for U2 and U3.

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3.2 Derivation of element stiffness matrics,Assembly of element
stiffness matrics and load vectors,Solution techniques
Summary of the steps
Step 1 : Determine the elemental FE equations
Step 2 : Write the Connectivity matrix
Step 3 : Assembly the individual element matrix into Global
matrix
Step 4 : Apply the Boundary Conditions
Step 5 : Solve the remaining matrix for Unknowns

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4. Analysis of springs, Tutorial - simple problems

Determine the displacement in node 3 and 4

Step 1 : Element stiffness matrix

 1000  1000  2000  2000

[ K1 ]    [K2 ]   
  1000 1000    2000 2000 

 3000  3000
[K3 ]   
  3000 3000 
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4. Analysis of springs, Tutorial - simple problems
 Step 2 : Connectivity matrix
1 3 Element 1
[CN ]  3 4 Element 2
4 2 Element 3

 Step 3 : Global Stiffness matrix

 1000 0  1000 0 
 0 3000 0  3000 
[GK ]   
 1000 0 3000  2000
 
 0  3000  2000 5000 

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4. Analysis of springs, Tutorial - simple problems
Global FE equations
 0   1000 0  1000 0  U1 
 0   0   U 
   3000 0 3000   2
    
 0    1000 0 3000  2000  U 3 
5000  0 
 3000  2000 5000  U 4 

Step 4 : Applying Boundary Conditions U1 =0 and U2 =0

 0   3000  2000 U 3 
    
5000  2000 5000  U 4 

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4. Analysis of springs, Tutorial - simple problems
Step 5 : Solving for Unknowns
 0   3000  2000 U 3 
   U 
5000    2000 5000  4 

U3 = (10/11) inch U4 = (15/11) inch

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5. Simple problems in stepped bar subjected to axial
loads
 Consider the bar as shown in the Figure. An axial load of
200 kN is applied at point P. Take A1 = 2400 mm2, E1 =
70x109 N/m2, A2 = 600 mm2, E2 = 200x109 N/m2.
 Calculate the nodal displacement and stress in each
element

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5. Simple problems in stepped bar subjected to axial
loads
Step 1 : Element stiffness matrix.
The load and displacement is axial and hence, Bar element
can used to solve the problem.
AE  1  1
[Ke ] 
L  1 1 

 5.6  5.6  3  3
[ K1 ]  110 
5
 [ K 2 ]  110 
5

  5.6 5.6    3 3 

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5. Simple problems in stepped bar subjected to axial
loads
 Step 2 : Connectivity Matrix

1 2 Element 1
[CN ]    Element 2
 2 3 

 Step 3 : Global Connectivity Matrix

 5.6  5.6 0 
[GK ]  1105  5.6 8.6  3
 0 3 3 

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5. Simple problems in stepped bar subjected to axial
loads
Global FE equations
 5.6  5.6 0  U1   0 
5     5
110  5.6 8.6  3 U 2   2 10 
 0 3 3  U 3   0 

Step 4 : Applying Boundary Conditions U1 =0 and U3 =0


1105 8.6U 2   2 105 
U 2  0.2325 mm

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5. Simple problems in stepped bar subjected to axial
loads
Stress in each Element :
 For Element 1 :
du u u 0.2325  0
Stress  1  E  E1  2 1  70 105   54.25MPa
dx l1 300

For Element 2 :

du u u 0  0.2325
Stress  1  E  E2  3 1  200 103   11.62 MPa
dx l2 400
(Compressive Stress)

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6. Problems in simple structural members for
triangular element
Triangular Element :
This is the simplest 2‐D element , which is also called linear
triangular element .

There are three nodes at each vertex of this element. And Each
Node posses two degrees of freedom. The displacements u and v
are assumed to be linear function within the element.

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6.Problems in simple structural members for
triangular element
The Shape functions (Linear functions in x and y) are

N1 
1
x2 y3  x3 y2   ( y2  y3 ) x  ( x3  x2 ) y
2A
N2 
1
x3 y1  x1 y3   ( y3  y1 ) x  ( x1  x3 ) y
2A
N3 
1
x1 y2  x2 y1   ( y1  y2 ) x  ( x2  x1 ) y
2A
and
1 x1 y1 
A  det 1 x2 y2  is the area of the triangle
1
2
1 x3 y3 

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7. Procedure for Finite Element Modeling
 Most of the real world problems are highly nonlinear and
complex. In order to solve such problems, it is required
to develop the effective Finite Element (FE) model which
represents the real time problem.
 However, solving such highly complex problems needs
sophicated hardwares and time consuming. Hence, the
real time problems are simplified to some extent. This
simplification are based on the geometry, material and
loading considerations.
 Here, some guide lines for the development of FE model
are discussed

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7. Procedure for Finite Element Modeling
To reduce the computational time, the minor details which do not influence the
results can be neglected in the FE model.
Symmetry

1.Geometric symmetry
2.Loading symmetry
3.Material symmetry

When taking the advantages of symmetric, all the above symmetric conditions
should be taken care. In case, if any of those is not symmetric , then it is required
to solve complex problem as it is.

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7. Procedure for Finite Element Modeling
Geometric symmetry is one of major simplification concept handled in the FE
model development.
Types of Geometric Symmetry

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 7. Procedure for Finite Element Modeling
 Symmetry in Material Properties, Loading, Displacements

The symmetric condition of the load

Can also used to simply the FE model.
As shown here, the quarter symmetry
Of the load was used for the development of
Simplified FE model

However, if the load is Half symmetry , then

FE model can be made half symmetry with
Respect to load symmetric axis.

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7. Procedure for Finite Element Modeling

While developing the FE model,

It also required to consider the
Material symmetricity.
As shown in this example.

However, When the symmetric condition was

not available in the problem, then it is required
to solve the problem as in the real complex case.

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Reference

http://www.ce.memphis.edu/7117/notes/presentations/chap
ter_02.pdf
Erdogan Madenci, Ibrahim Guven, “The Finite Element
Method and Applications in Engineering Using ANSYS”,
Springer, 2015.
Chandupatla and Belagundu, “Introduction to Finite
Element Methods in Engineering”, Prentice Hal of India
Private Limited, New Delhi, 2011

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