Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MANE 4240 & CIVL 4240 Introduction To Finite Elements: Prof. Suvranu de
MANE 4240 & CIVL 4240 Introduction To Finite Elements: Prof. Suvranu de
(
=
(
}
The strain energy of the FE system is
| |
80
0
1 1 27
sin 0 9/13
2 2 2080
T T
h h h
x
E
U Adx d Kd ce d o c
=
= = = =
}
Note
h
U U >
Convergence in strain energy
0 h as U U
h
Monotonic convergence
Nonmonotonic convergence
Convergence in displacement
( ) ( ) | | 0 0 v - v u - u u u
2
h
2
h
0
+
}
h as dV
V
h
Monotonic convergence
Nonmonotonic convergence
Criteria for monotonic convergence
1. COMPLETENESS
2. COMPATIBILITY
2002 Brooks/Cole Publishing / Thomson Learning
CONDITION 1. COMPLETENESS
This requires that the displacement interpolation functions
must be chosen so that the elements can represent
1. Rigid body modes
2. Constant strain states
Rigid body modes
The # of rigid body modes of an element = # of zero
eigenvalues of the element stiffness matrix
Constant strain states
x
c
Actual variation of strain
Strain computed using linear finite elements
Mathematical implication of the two conditions (rigid body
modes + constant strain state)
( ) ( )
i i
i
u x N x u ~
2
1
x
x
2 2
1
y xy x
y x
1D
2D
k=1
In 2D, the minimum displacement assumption needs to be
y x v
y x u
3 2 1
3 2 1
| | |
o o o
+ + =
+ + =
Translation along x
1
1
1 2 1 3 3 2
0 0
0 0
0 0 0
all other coeffs
all other coeffs
and but
o
|
o o | | o |
= =
= =
= = = = = =
Translation along y
Rigid body rotation about z-axis
CONDITION 2. COMPATIBILITY
The assumed displacement variations are continuous within
elements and across inter-element boundaries
Ensures that strains are bounded within elements and across
element boundaries.
If u is discontinuous across element boundaries then
the strains blow up in-between elements and this leads
to erroneous contributions to the potential energy of the
structure
Physical meaning: no gaps/cracks open up when the finite
element assemblage is loaded
Nonconforming elements and the patch test
Conforming = compatible
Nonconforming = incompatible
I deal: Conforming elements
Observation: Certain nonconforming elements also give good
results, at the expense of nonmonotonic convergence
Nonconforming elements:
satisfy completeness
do not satisfy compatibility
result in at least nonmonotonic convergence if the element
assemblage as a whole is complete, i.e., they satisfy the
PATCH TEST
PATCH TEST:
1. A patch of elements is subjected to the minimum
displacement boundary conditions to eliminate all rigid body
motions
2. Apply to boundary nodal points forces or displacements
which should result in a state of constant stress within the
assemblage
3. Nodes not on the boundary are neither loaded nor restrained.
4. Compute the displacements of nodes which do not have a
prescribed value
5. Compute the stresses and strains
The patch test is passed if the computed stresses and strains
match the expected values to the limit of computer precision.
NOTES:
1. This is a great way to debug a computer code
2. Conforming elements ALWAYS pass the patch test
3. Nodes not on the boundary are neither loaded nor restrained.
4. Since a patch may also consist of a single element, this test
may be used to check the completeness of a single element
5. The number of constant stress states in a patch test depends
on the actual number of constant stress states in the
mathematical model (3 for plane stress analysis. 6 for a full 3D
analysis)
CONVERGENCE RATE
This is a measure of how fast the discretization error goes to
zero a the mesh is refined
Convergence rate depends on the order of the complete
polynomial (k) used in the displacement approximation
3 2 2 3
2 2
1
y xy y x x
y xy x
y x
k=1
k=2
k=3
It can be shown that for (1) a sufficiently refined mesh and
(2) for problems whose analytical solution does not contain
singularities
2k
h
U U C h s
Convergence in strain energy : order 2k
Convergence in displacements : order p=k+1
1
1
0
u u
k
h
C h
+
s
C and C
1
are constants independent of h but dependent on
1. the analytical solution
2. material properties
3. type of element used
h
U U log
slope = 2
Large C
shifts
curve up
h log
Ex: for a domain discretized using 4 node plane stress/strain
elements (k=1)
2
1
0
2
u u h C
h C U U
h
h
s
s
Important property of finite element solution:
When the conditions of monotonic convergence are satisfied
(compatibility and completeness) the finite element strain energy
always underestimates the strain energy of the actual structure
Strain energy of mathematical model
Strain energy of FE model