9/30/2013

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Typical shapes of elements used in 3D analysis
4

z,w

3
1
2

x,u

Three DOF at each node u, v, w total four

nodes => 3X4 = 12 DOF
Similar to triangle in 2D

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y,v

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Displacement functions of tetrahedral
element
u ( x , y , z ) = a1 + a 2 x + a 3 y + a 4 z
v ( x, y , z ) = a5 + a 6 x + a 7 y + a8 z

{U }31 = [X ]312 { }121

w ( x , y , z ) = a 9 + a10 x + a11 y + a12 z

{d }121 = [A]1212 { }121

=>

=>

{ } = [A]1{d }

{U } = [X ][A]1{d } => [N ]312{d }121

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Substitute displacements & nodal coordinates

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x

0
x
y
0
z
=
xy
yz y
zx 0

y
0

z
0

u
z v

0 w

y

x

{ } = [ ]{U }
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Strain

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Expressing strain in terms of shape function
derivatives

{ } = [ ]{U }

{U } = [N ]{d }

Substitute strain in total PE expression

=

n
1
{ }T [C ]{ }dV {U }T {T }dS {U }T {B}dV Pi i

2
i =1

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{ } = [ ][N ]{d } = [B ]612 {d }12 1

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The stiffness matrix is given by,
=

[B ] [C ] [B ]
T

6 6

6 12

dV

12 6

Order of stiffness matrix [k] => 12X12

12 DOF 3 at each node
No. of terms in a complete polynomial in 3D
(n+1)(n+2)(n+3)/6
n order of polynomial.

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[k ]12 12

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Natural coordinate system

Similar to that used in triangle element
4
z,w
N1 = V1/V
P(x, y, z)
3
N2 = V2/V
N3 = V3/V
1
N4 = V4/V
2
y,v

V1 = Volume P234
x,u

6V =

1
1
1

x1
x2
x3

y1
y2
y3

z1
z2
z3

x4

y4

z4

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