Masterclass ill-conditioning & wall elements

Ill-conditioning and singularity problems in finite element analysis why they happen and how to prevent them.

Finite element modelling

Sources of error in finite element modelling
Discretisation of continuous system Modelling assumptions Roundoff in calculations

Can lead to ill-conditioning

Ill conditioning solving pair of equations

With three digits of precision

Ill conditioning solving pair of equations

Solution using 3 significant figures
x1 = -0.443 x2 = 1

Precise solution
x1 = -1 x2 = 1

Ill conditioning graphical interpretation

Solution is intersection of two lines well conditioned

Ill conditioning graphical interpretation

Solution is intersection of two lines small perturbation can have significant effect on solution ill conditioned
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Ill conditioning in an FE model

Specific to the problem (modelling) Measured using the condition number Happens when degrees of freedom are not sufficiently restrained
nodes that can spin large differences in stiffness connectivity problems

Result is loss of accuracy (and/or confidence) in the solution

Condition number
Mathematical definition

max ( K ) (K ) min ( K )
Large differences in stiffness are likely to lead to large differences in maximum & minimum eigenvalues
a large condition number indicates a problem if the condition number = 10k, then you require k digits of accuracy

Condition number
If the structure is unconstrained the condition number is infinite
the stiffness matrix is singular

A large condition number may not prevent the solution, but will reduce the reliability of the results A large condition number may be more difficult to isolate that an infinite condition number

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Analysis failure

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Model stability analysis new option!

We can investigate the stability of the mathematical model (not the structure) using a model stability analysis
eigenvalue analysis of the stiffness matrix

K
any unconstrained modes will give a zero eigenvalue an overly flexible part of the structure will give a low eigenvalue eigenvectors (mode shapes) will highlight where the problems lie

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Model stability analysis - eigenvector

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Model stability analysis - eigenvector

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Model stability analysis

Calculate first few eigenvalues and eigenvectors For eigenvalues close to zero, contour nodal translations and rotations Examine degrees of freedom that have large displacements

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How to avoid ill-conditioning

In modelling
Avoid short, stiff elements where possible Use rigid (and other) constraints in preference to stiff elements. Be careful in the use of releases Use bars rather than beams with releases where possible

In analysis
Check condition number

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Wall element in GSA

Why developing wall elements

There are conflicting requirements from finite element analysis principle and structure modelling & analysis

According to finite element analysis principle

It requires the element size to be sufficiently small to guarantee the reliability of analysis results

From modelling & analysis point of view

Large element size are sometimes better as it simplifies the modelling process and reduce unwanted results

To meet both of the requirements, wall element is implemented in GSA, i.e. wall element size can be large,
but without compromising integrity of analysis results

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What is wall element

To the users, it is a 4 node large quad element To the analysis solver, it contains 4x4 Quad8 elements

To the users

To analysis solver

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Analysis results of wall elements

External results - forces/moments on the edges
Primary direction results Imagine the wall element is a horizontal beam The sign of the edge forces/moments are the same as horizontal beam as shown below
4 3

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Analysis results of wall element

External results forces/moments on the edges
Secondary direction results Imagine the wall element is a vertical beam The sign of the edge forces/moments are the same as vertical beam as shown on the right
1 2 4 3

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Analysis results of wall element

Internal results - forces/moments/stresses etc within wall elements
They are not normally required when wall elements are used to model shear walls They are required when wall elements are used to model floors The results are not available in current version of GSA Will be implemented in future version of GSA, the sign convention will be the same as that used by shell elements. As wall elements are large, there would be more output points within the elements
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Drilling stiffness - introduction

Drilling stiffness is defined as the rotational stiffness about the normal of 2D elements (shell and wall element etc) Drilling stiffness of shell elements are difficult to predict to meet engineering requirements Available methods can predict drilling stiffness, but seems not always giving sufficient accurate results to meet engineering requirements GSA makes use of the large size nature of the wall element to predict the stiffness as shown below, further improvements have been done and will be included in future version of GSA
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Drilling stiffness how drilling stiffness is generated in GSA

4 Edge 3 3

Edge 4

Edge 2

Edge 1

Generation of drilling stiffness

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Drilling stiffness how drilling stiffness is generated

Constrained to have the same vertical displacement Stiff beam with in-plane bending & shear stiffness only, pinned at dummy node end and fixed at corner node end, so corner node will have a drilling stiffness

Yellow rectangle: the equivalent beam section that is used to apply drilling moment to wall corner node

Top right corner node

Dummy/slave node to
the edge nodes

Constrained to have the same horizontal displacement

Generation of drilling stiffness

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Summary
Wall element is a large 4 node quad element Its size can be large without losing analysis accuracy Wall element edge results (total forces/moments) are presented by equivalent horizontal and vertical beams Wall elements have drilling stiffness and the accuracy of the predicted drilling stiffness is better than the drilling stiffness available for shell elements

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Known limitation at the moment

Wall element must be rectangular Wall elements can only be used for linear static and modal dynamic analysis Grouped wall element results are not available Cut section forces are not available Wall element internal results are not available Drilling stiffness given at current version of GSA is corresponding to the beam section equal to 1/8 of the wall element size. If beam section size is larger, the predicted drilling stiffness may be underestimated. User defined beam section size will be implemented in the future version of GSA, so wall element will give accurate drilling stiffness in all cases Face and edge loads are converted to the 4 corner nodes only

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