INTRODUCTION INTO FINITE

ELEMENT NONLINEAR
ANALYSES
Doc. Ing. Vladimr Ivano, PhD.
Technical University of Koice
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics
HS Wismar, June 2009

CONTENS
1. Introduction
1.1 Types of structural nonlinearities
1.2 Concept of time curves
2. Geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis
3. Incremental iterative solution
3.1 Incremental method
3.2 Iterative methods
4. Material nonlinearities
5. Examples
2

1. Introduction
1.1 Sources of nonlinearities
Linear static analysis - the most common and the most
simplified analysis of structures is based on
assumptions:

static =

loading is so slow that dynamic effects

can be neglected

linear = a) material obeys Hookes law

b) external forces are conservative
c) supports remain unchanged during loading
d) deformations are so small that change
of the structure configuration is neglectable
3

Consequences:
displacements and stresses are proportional to loads,
principle of superposition holds
in FEM we obtain a set of linear algebraic equations for
computation of displacements

Kd F
where
K global stiffness matrix
d vector of unknown nodal displacements
F vector of external nodal forces
4

Nonlinear analysis sources of nonlinearities

can be classified as
1. Geometric nonlinearities - changes of the structure
shape (or configuration changes) cannot be neglected
and its deformed configuration should be considered.
2. Material nonlinearities - material behaves nonlinearly
and linear Hookes law cannot be used. More complicated
material models should be then used instead e.g.
nonlinear elastic (Mooney-Rivlins model for materials like rubber),
elastoplastic (Huber-von Mises for metals, Drucker-Prager model to
simulate the behaviour of granular soil materials such as sand and
gravel) etc.

3. Boundary nonlinearities - displacement dependent

boundary conditions.
The most frequent boundary nonlinearities are encountered in contact
problems.

Consequences of assuming nonlinearities in FEM:

Instead of set of linear algebraic equations

Kd F

we obtain a set of nonlinear algebraic equations

R (d ) F

Consequences of nonlinear structural behaviour

that have to be recognized are:
1. The principle of superposition cannot be applied. For
example, the results of several load cases cannot
be combined. Results of the nonlinear analysis
cannot be scaled.
6

2. Only one load case can be handled at a time.

3. The sequence of application of loads (loading
history) may be important. Especially, plastic
deformations depend on a manner of loading. This is
a reason for dividing loads into small increments in
nonlinear FE analysis.
4. The structural behaviour can be markedly nonproportional to the applied load. The initial state of
stress (e.g. residual stresses from heat treatment,
welding etc.) may be important.
7

1.2 Concept of time curves

In order to reflect history of loading, loads are
associated with time curves.
Example - values of forces at any time are defined as

F1 1 t f1

F2 2 t f 2

where f1 and f2 are

nominal (input)
values of forces and
1 and 1 are load
parameters that are
functions of time t.
8

For nonlinear static analysis, the time variable

represents a pseudo time, which denotes the intensity
of the applied loads at certain step.
For nonlinear dynamic analysis and nonlinear static
analysis with time-dependent material properties the
time represents the real time associated with the
loads application.
The most common case all loads are proportional to time:

2. Geometrically nonlinear finite

element analysis
Example linearly elastic truss

i, y

i, y

N sin P 0
hu
sin
L
hu
N
P 0.
L
10

Condition of equilibrium

hu
N
P 0.
L

where

N E A0

A0

axial force
cross-section of the truss

L L0

L0

engineering strain

Initial and current length of the truss are

2

L0 a h

L a 2 (h u ) 2

11

To avoid complications, it is convenient to introduce new

measure of strain Greens strain defined as

L2 L20
G
2 L20
In our example is

L a h
2
0

L2 a 2 ( h u ) 2

hence

a h 2hu u a h
G
2 L20
2

h u 1 u

L0 L0 2 L0

12

Example of different strain measures

Logarithmic strain (true strain)

log

L
ln( ) ln(1 )
L0

13

The stress-strain relation was measured as

E
A0
When using Greens strain the relation should be

E
E
G E
G
G
1 2
1
G

1
2
2
This means that constitutive equation should be

G E * G
1
1
2

E
E
1
1
2
*

14

The new modulus of elasticity is not constant

but it depends on strain

E
E
1
1
2
*

If strain is small (e.g. less than 2%) differences are negligible

L / L0

(MPa)

(MPa)

(MPa)

G(MPa)

0,0000

0,0000

0,000000

21 000

21 000

0,0050

0,0050

0,005013

21 000

20 948

105

105

0,0100

0,0100

0,010050

21 000

20 896

210

210

0,0150

0,0150

0,015113

21 000

20 844

315

315

0,0200

0,0200

0,020200

21 000

20 792

420

420

15

Assuming that strain is small, we can write

N E A0 E A0 G E A0 G
*

and after substituting into equation

hu
N
P 0.
L
we can derive the condition of equilibrium in the form

E A0 3
2
2

u 3h u 2 h u P
3
2 L0
16

Consequence of considering configuration changes relation between load P and displacement u is nonlinear

E A0 3
2
2

3
h
u

2
h
u P
3
2 L0

Generally, using FEM we obtain a set of nonlinear algebraic

equations for unknown nodal displacements d

R (d ) F
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3. Incremental iterative solution

Assumption of large displacements leads to nonlinear
equation of equilibrium

R (d ) F

For infinitesimal increments of internal and external forces

we can write

R (d d d ) F d F

R
R (d d d ) R (d )
d d R (d ) K T d d
d
R
is tangent stiffness matrix
KT
where
d

K T dd d F
18

3.1 Incremental method

The load is divided into a set of small increments Fi .
Increments of displacements are calculated from the set
of linear simultaneous equations

KT (i 1) d i Fi
where KT(i-1) is tangent stiffness matrix computed form
displacements d(i-1) obtained in previous incremental step.
Nodal displacements after force increment of Fi are

d i d i 1 d i
19

Incremental method

20

3.2 Iterative methods

Newton-Raphson method
Consider that di is estimation of nodal displacement. As it
is only an estimation, the condition of equilibrium would not
be satisfied

R (d i ) F

This means that conditions of equilibrium of internal and

external nodal forces are not satisfied and in nodes are
unbalanced forces

ri R (d i ) F
21

Correction of nodal displacements can be then obtained from

the set of linear algebraic equations

K T ( i ) d i ri
and mew, corrected estimation of nodal displacements is

d i 1 d i d i
The procedure is repeated until the sufficiently accurate
solution is obtained.
The first estimation is obtained from linear analysis

Kd1 F

22

Standard Newton-Raphson (NR) method

23

Modified Newton-Raphson (MNR) method - the same

stiffness matrix is used in all iterations

24

Combination of Newton-Raphson and incremental methods

25

4. Material nonlinearities
4.1 Nonlinear elasticity models
For any nonlinear elastic material model, it is possible
to define relation between stress and strain increments
as

d DT d
Matrix DT is function of strains . Consequently, a set of
equilibrium equations we receive in FEM is nonlinear and
must be solved by use of any method described above

26

4.1 Elastoplastic material models

The total strains are decomposed into elastic and plastic
parts
e
p

The yield criterion says whether plastic deformation will

occur.
The plastic behaviour of a material after onset of plastic
deformations is defined by so-called flow rule in which is the
rate and the direction of plastic strains is related to the
stress state and the stress rate. This relation can be
expressed as

Q
d d

27

Constitutive equation can be formulated as

d DT d
The tangential material matrix DT is used to form a tangential
stiffness matrix KT. When the tangential stiffness matrix is
defined, the displacement increment is obtained for a known
load increment

KT d F
As load and displacement increments are final, not
infinitesimal, displacements obtained by solution of this
set of linear algebraic equation will be approximate only.
That means, conditions of equilibrium of internal and
external nodal forces will not be satisfied and iterative
process is necessary.

28

The problem - not only equilibrium equations but also

constitutive equations of material must be satisfied. That
means that within the each equilibrium iteration step
check of stress state and iterations to find elastic and
plastic part of strains at every integration point must be
included.
The iteration process continues until both, equilibrium
conditions and constitutive equations are satisfied
simultaneously.
The converged solution at the end of load increment is
then used at the start of new load increment.

29

30

Example of non-linear static analysis bending of the beam,

considering elastoplastic material

bilinear material model

31

Detail of finite element mesh SHELL4T elements are

colored according to their thickness

32

Maximal
stress x
approaches
value of the
yield stress

Beginning of
plastic
deformations
Normal stress distribution
in the cross-section at mid
of the beam span.

33

Normal stress distribution after

increase of the load.
34

COLLAPSE inability of the beam to resist further load increase

35

36

37

Deflection versus load

38

Example of nonlinear dynamic analysis - drop test of

container for radioactive waste.
Simulation of a drop from 9 m at an angle to steel target

39

Reduced stresses at time 0,00187 s

Time courses of reduced stresses at selected nodes

40

Drop on side of the lid check of screwed bolts

41

0,00165 s.

42 s
0,0027

Maximal displacements

43

44

Drop along the top on the mandrel

45

Drop along the top on the mandrel - time course of

maximal stress in the lid

46

Drop aside on the mandrel

47

Reduced stresses at time

0,00235 s
48

49

Example:
Study of influence of residual stresses due to arc welding on loadbearing capacity of a thin-walled beam.

50

Coupled thermal and stress analysis in following

steps:
1. Nonlinear transient thermal analysis
temperature dependent thermal material
properties c, k and density
temperature dependent convective heat transfer
coefficient
2. Nonlinear stress analysis
plastic deformations
large displacements
temperature dependent material mechanical
51
properties

Temperature field at time t = 5 s, 1st phase of welding

52

Temperature field at time t = 10 s, 1st phase

53

Temperature field at time t = 5 s, 2nd phase

54

Temperature field at time t = 10 s, 2nd phase

55

Temperature field after end of welding

56

Reduction coefficients for yield stress and modulus of

elasticity

y (T ) k f y (T ) f y
E (T ) k E (T ) E20

fy yield stress and E20 modulus of elasticity at 20 oC

57

temperature field

stress field

58

59

60

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Deflection of the beam during welding

62

Maximum deflection versus load

annealed
unannealed

63