MAE4700/5700: Finite Element Analysis for

Mechanical and Aerospace Design

Prof. Nicholas Zabaras
Materials Process Design and Control Laboratory
Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
101 Frank H. T. Rhodes Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-3801

Email: zabaras@cornell.edu
URL: http://mpdc.mae.cornell.edu/

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 Elastic solids subject to dynamic loads

• The stress equilibrium equations in Lecture 15 considered

a body in static equilibrium.
• If a body is in motion, then at any instant of time t ,
Newton’s law of motion implies that the sum of all forces
must be equal to the inertial force.
• Therefore, the governing equations lead to a dynamical
problem.

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 Strong form of dynamic linear elasticity
• Denote the mass density of the material by ρ and the
accelerations in the coordinate directions by u = ∂∂tu and uy .
2
x
x 2

Then the equation of motion

 in 2D can be written as follows:
Find the displacements u on Ω such that
  
∇σ x + bx = ρ ux , where σ= D∇ u
 
S

with
∇σ = y + by ρ uy on Ω =
 
σ x  n t x ,=
σ y n t y on Γt
 
  =u u on Γu
1 v 0  ∂ ∂
E   0
D=  ∂x ∂y 
Plane stress: v 1 0
1− v 2
 
0 0 (1 − v)  ∇S =
T
 
 2 0 ∂ ∂
   ∂y ∂x 
1 − v v 0 
Plane strain: D E  v 1− v 
= 0
(1 + v)(1 − 2v)  
 0 0 (1 − 2v) 
 2

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3 3
 Weak form of dynamic linear elasticity
• Comparing with the static problem, we only have the extra
inertial terms. Thus the weak form corresponding to these
differential equations can be obtained following the same
steps as before.
• We pre-multiply the equilibrium equations in x and y
directions and the two natural boundary conditions by the
corresponding weight functions and integrate over the
corresponding domain as follows:
 
    ∫ ( ∇σ x + bx=) wx d Ω ∫ ρ ux wx d Ω ∀wx ∈U 0 ,
∇σ x += by ρ uy on Ω ⇒ Ω  
bx ρ ux , ∇σ y += Ω

∫ ( ∇σ y + b=
y ) wy d Ω ∫ ρ uy wy d Ω∀wy ∈ U 0 .
Ω Ω

( )
∫ wx σ x n − t x d Γ = 0 ∀wx ∈ U 0 ,
  Γ t


σ= x  n t x , σ= y  n t y on Γt ⇒ ( )
∫ wy σ y n − t y d Γ = 0 ∀wy ∈ U 0 .
Γ t

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 Weak form of dynamic linear elasticity
• Applying Green’s theorem (integration by parts) to the first
term in each of these equations and follow the exact
procedures as in the static case, we have the matrix form of
the weak form as follows:
find u ∈ U on Ω such that :
 ∂ 2u 
∫ {w} ρ  2  d Ω + ∫ (∇S w) D (∇S u ) d Ω =
T T
Ω  ∂t  Ω

∫ { w}T
{t } d Γ + ∫ { w}T
{b} d Ω ∀w ∈ U 0
Γ Ω

{ }
t

where : U = u : u ∈ H 1 , u =u on Γu and

U 0 ={w : w ∈ H 1 , w =0 on Γu }
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 Finite Element Approximation
• Same as in static problem, we apply the finite element
approximation to the derived weak form.
• Here ue is the finite element approximation of the
displacement field in element e.
{u e ( x, y, t )} =  N e ( x, y) {d e ( t )}
 


x and y Nodal
displacements displacements
at po int ( x , y )
at time t

• The element shape function matrix Ne in the matrix form is

 N e
0 N 2e 0 e
... N nen 0 
N e  =  1

 
 0 N1e 0 N 2e ... 0 N nen 
e

where nen is the number of element nodes.

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 Strain displacement matrix
• We need to compute the strains in terms of the element
shape functions and the nodal displacements. Applying the
symmetric gradient operator to Ne gives
εe 
 x
{ε e } = ε ey  =
 
{∇ S N e  d e
∇S ue =

 
} { }
γ xy
e
 [B ] e

where the strain-displacement matrix Βe is defined as:

 ∂N e
∂N e
∂N e

 ∂x 0 0 ... 0

1 2 nen

∂x ∂x
[B ] =
e

[∇ N e
 0
]= ∂N 1
e

0
∂N e

2
... 0
∂N e

nen 
S
 ∂y ∂y ∂y 
 ∂N ∂N ∂N ∂N ∂N ∂N 
e e e e e e

1 1 2 2
... nen nen

 ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x 

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 Semidiscrete Finite Element equations
• Following the same procedure as before, the finite element
equations become
(t ) + Ku(t ) =
Mu f (t )
where Me is known as an element mass matrix
= M e ∫ ρ NT Nd Ω
Ω e

and all other matrices are exactly the same as those for the
static case:
= e
∫ B D B dΩ
e e e
T

K
Ω e

= ∫ N td Γ + ∫ N bd Ω
e e e
T T

f
Γ
 Ω 
e e

 t

f e
f Ω
e

boundary body
force vector force vector

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 Mass Matrix for Axial deformations
• The element extends from x1 to x2 and has a length L= x − x . 2 1

For simplicity the element is assumed to have a uniform

area of cross section A
• The element is based on the following interpolation functions:
x2 − x x2 − x x − x1 x − x1
=N1 = =
; N2 =
x2 − x1 L x2 − x1 L

• Using these interpolation

functions, the mass matrix can be
written as follows:

 x − x2 
 −   x − x2
L x − x1  ρ Ae Le  2 1 
= ∫ ρ=
N Nd Ω ρ A∫x   − =
e T x
 dx
6  1 2 
M 2

Ω  x − x1   L L 
e 1

 L 
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 Mass Matrix For Plane Truss Element
• For the mass matrix, we must consider displacements both
in the x and y directions, since motion along both axes
generates the inertia forces.
• Therefore, the mass matrix for a truss element is derived by
writing the linear interpolation functions for x and y
displacements
• Assuming a coordinate s along the axis of the element with
s=0 at node 1 and s = L, at node 2 the interpolation functions
are as follows: L−s s
= N =1 ; N 2
L L
 u1 
 
u   N1 0 N 2 0   v1 
=  =    Nd
v  0 N1 0 N 2  u2
 
 v2 
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 Mass Matrix For Plane Truss Element
• Using these interpolation functions, the mass matrix can be
written as follows:
 L−s 
 L 0 
 
 0 L − s  L − s s 
0 0
L L   L L
= ∫Ωe ρ N= Nd Ω ρ A∫   ds
e T
M 
L−s
0   0
0
 s s
0 
 L  L L
 s 
 0 
 L 
• Carrying out matrix multiplication and integrating each term,
we obtain 2 0 1 0
e e  
ρ A L  0 2 0 1 
Me =
6 1 0 2 0
 
 0 1 0 2 
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 Mass Matrix For Space Truss Element
• The mass matrix for a three dimensional space truss element,
can be written using exactly the same arguments as those for
the plane truss.
• The interpolation functions for x, y, and z displacements in
terms of a coordinate s along the axis of the element with
s=0 at node 1 and s = L, at node 2 are as follows:
L−s s
=N1 = ; N2
L L
 u1 
 
 v1 
u  N1 0 0 N 2 0 0 
     w1 
=v  =0 N1 0 0 N 2 0    Nd
 w  0 0 N   u2 
   1 0 0 N2 
v 
 2 
 w2 
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 Mass Matrix For Space Truss Element
• Using these interpolation functions, the mass matrix can be
written as follows:
2 0 0 1 0 0
 
0 2 0 0 1 0
e e 
ρ A L 0 0 2 0 0 1
= ∫Ωe ρ =
N Nd Ω
e T
M  
6 1 0 0 2 0 0
0 1 0 0 2 0
 
0 0 1 0 0 2

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 Equation of Motion For Beams
• For Bernoulli-Euler beam theory, the equation of motion is
of the form

∂ 2u y ∂2  ∂ uy 
2

ρA + 2  EI 2 q ( x, t )
 =
∂t 2 ∂x  ∂x 

where ρ denotes the mass density per unit length, A is the

area of cross section, E is the modulus, and I is the second
moment of inertia.

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 Semidiscrete Finite Element equations
• Following the same procedure as before, the finite element
equations become
 y (t ) + Ku y (t ) =
Mu f (t )
where Me is known as an element mass matrix
M e = ∫ ρ AN T Ndx
Le

and all other matrices are exactly the same as those for the
static case:
12 6 Le − 12 6 Le 
 e 
1
Le
E e e
I  6 L 4 Le2
− 6 Le
2 Le2

∫= ξ
T
Ke B e
E e e e
I B d for constant q
 
Le  −12 − 6 Le 12 − 6 Le 
3

−1
2 1 
6 Le  N u1   e 
2 Le − 6 Le 4 Le 
2 2

  L 
 
 Nϑ1  qLe  6 
1
Le
=f Ω ∫=
e e T
q ( x)[ N ] dx ∫ q=
( x)   dξ  
Ω e 2 −1  N u 2  2 1 
 Nϑ 2   Le 
− 
 6 

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 Mass Matrix
Mass matrix=Me ∫ ρ N Nd Ω
T
Ω e

• The mass matrix term is the only new term in the element
equations for dynamic problems.

• During assembly, the element mass matrices are assembled

to form a global mass matrix in exactly the same manner as
the stiffness matrix.

• Explicit mass matrices for commonly used structural

elements are derived in the following slides.

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 Mass Matrix for Beam Element
• The two-node beam element shown in the figure was
developed in Lecture 4. The interpolation functions are as
follows:
Le
=
x (1 + ξ ) + x1e , − 1 ≤ ξ ≤ 1
2
1
N u1 = (1 − ξ ) 2 (2 + ξ ) 2( x − x1e )
4 = ξ − 1, − 1 ≤ ξ ≤ 1
Le
Le
Nθ 1 = (1 − ξ ) 2 (1 + ξ )
8
1
N u 2 = (1 + ξ ) (2 − ξ )
2 u y1 
 
θ1 
4
= L e
u y ( x) [ =
e
N u1 Nθ 1 N u 2 Nθ 2 ]   Nd
Nθ 2 = (1 + ξ ) (ξ − 1)
2

8 u y 2 
θ 
 2 

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 Mass Matrix for Beam Element
• The mass matrix can be written as follows:
1 
 4 (1 − ξ ) (2 + ξ ) 
2

 e 
L 
 (1 − ξ ) (1 + ξ ) 
2
1 Le 1 Le  Le
NT Nd Ω ρ Ae ∫  8
∫Ωe ρ =
1
Me   (1 − ξ ) 2 (2 + ξ ) (1 − ξ ) 2 (1 + ξ ) (1 + ξ ) 2 (2 − ξ ) (1 + ξ ) 2 (ξ − 1)  d ξ
−1 1
 (1 + ξ ) 2 (2 − ξ )   4 8 4 8 2
4 
 e 
 L (1 + ξ ) 2 (ξ − 1) 
8 

• Carrying out matrix multiplication and integrating each term,

we get
 156
e e
22 L 54 −13L 
 
ρ A L  22 Le
e e
4L e2
13Le −3L 
e2
M =
e
420  54 13Le 156 −22 Le 

 −13Le −3L e2
−22 Le e2 
 4L 

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 Triangular Element for Plane Stress/Strain
• The three-node triangular element shown in figure was
developed for plane stress and plane strain problems in
Lecture 16. The interpolation functions are as follows:

 u xe   N1e 0 N 2e 0 N 3e 0  e
 e= d
u y   0 N1e 0 N 2e 0 e
N 3 

where:
1 1
N1e ( x, =
y) [a1 + b1 x + c1=
y] [( x2 y3 − x3 y2 ) + ( y2 − y3 ) x + ( x3 − x2 ) y ]
2 Ae 2 Ae
1 1
N 2e ( x,=
y) [a2 + b2 x + c2=
y] [( x3 y1 − x1 y3 ) + ( y3 − y1 ) x + ( x1 − x3 ) y ]
2 Ae 2 Ae
1 1
N 3e ( x, =
y) [a3 + b3 x + c3=
y] [( x1 y2 − x2 y1 ) + ( y1 − y2 ) x + ( x2 − x1 ) y ]
2 Ae 2 Ae

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 Triangular Element for Plane Stress/Strain
• With constant thickness t and using these interpolation
functions, the mass matrix can be written as follows:

=Me ∫Ω
e
NT Nd Ω ρ t ∫∫ N T NdA
ρ=
A

• Carrying out matrix multiplication and integrating over the

triangular as explained before, we get
2 0 1 0 1 0
 
0 2 0 1 0 1
ρ Aet e  1 0 2 0 1 0
M =
e
 
12  0 1 0 2 0 1
1 0 1 0 2 0
 
0 1 0 1 0 2

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 Mass Matrix for Isoparametric Elements
• The mass matrix for an isoparametric element may be
computed by numerical integrations as described before. For
example, for two-dimensional elements the mass matrix is
given by
Ni
=M e
∫Ω N Nd Ω ρ ∑ N T (ξi ,ηi ) N (ξi ,ηi ) | J | wi
ρ= T

e i =1

• Now since it is the product of shape functions which are

polynomials, the order of quadrature used for standard
integration will suffice to accurately compute the mass matrix.

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 Free Vibration Analysis
• Most structural dynamics and vibration problems typically
start with the analysis of the free vibration motion of the
system. There is no externally applied load in this situation,
and thus the global system of equations for the system is of
the following form:
 + Ku = 0
Mu
where the global mass matrix M and the global stiffness matrix
K are assembled from the corresponding element matrices
using the usual assembly procedure.
• This equation expresses the condition of natural vibration
(simple harmonic motion), where at any instant the
restoration influences in the system balance the inertia
influences.
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 Free Vibration Analysis
• This system of equation is satisfied by a harmonic solution of
the following form
u = φ cos ω t
where φ andω are parameters that will be later identified as the
mode shape (eigenvectors) and the natural frequency.

• Substituting this into the differential equation, we have

−Mφω 2 cos ω t + Kφ cos ω t =

0

−Mφω + Kφ =
2
0

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 Free Vibration Analysis
• Rearranging terms, we have what is known as a generalized
eigenvalue problem
Kφ = λ M φ
whereλ = ω 2 is introduced for convenience.
• From the solution of this system, we get n natural frequencies
ωi = λi and corresponding free-vibration mode shapes φi when
the size of the matrix K and M is n × n .

• The eigenvectors are called normal modes of the system if the

eigenvectors are normalized such that

φiT M
= φi 1,=i 1, 2,, n

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 Free Vibration Analysis
• Note that we must apply the essential boundary conditions
on the mass and stiffness matrix before solving the
eigenvalue problem.
• The number of eigenvalues obtained in the finite element
method is always equal to the number of unknown nodal
values.

• As the mesh is refined, not only do we increase the number

of eigenvalues but we also improve the accuracy of the
preceding eigenvalues.

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 Solution of the Eigenvalue problem
• In Matlab the eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors
are obtained by using the eig command as follows:
[V,Lam]=eig(K,M)
In the result, Lam is a diagonal matrix of eigenvalues and V is
a matrix whose columns are the eigenvectors (mode shapes)
which are scaled so that the norm is 1.
• If K and M are sparse matrices and you want to return the
eigenvectors, you may use eigs instead. Or you can first
convert them to full matrix, and then use eig.

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 Transient Response
• For structures subjected to dynamic loads the global system
of equations for the system is of the following form:
(t ) + Ku(t ) =
Mu f (t )
where the global mass matrix M, the global stiffness matrix K
and the global load vector f are assembled from the
corresponding element matrices using the usual assembly
procedure.
• For a unique solution initial displacements and velocities at
time 0 at all degrees of freedom must also be specified.

u ( 0 ) u=
=  (0) v0
0, u

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 Newmark Time Integration Methods
• Suppose that we are able to get estimates for the
acceleration u(t ) and u(t + ∆t ) both at the start and end of a
general time step ∆t .
• We could then use a Taylor series expansion to obtain
estimates of displacement and velocity at time t + ∆t

∆t 2
u n +=1 u n + ∆tun +
2
[ (1 − β 2 ) un + β 2un +1 ]
u n +=  n + ∆t [(1 − β1 ) u
1 u  n + β1u n +1 ]
where u n means the “value” of the function u at the n-th step in
time.

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 Newmark Time Integration Methods
∆t 2
u n +=1 u n + ∆tun +
2
[ (1 − β 2 ) un + β 2un +1 ]
u n +=  n + ∆t [(1 − β1 ) u
1 u  n + β1u n +1 ]
• Here β1 and β 2 are two adjustable parameters that determine
the nature of the time integration scheme.
• If we set β=
1 β=2 0 the acceleration is estimated based on its
value at time t . This is known as an explicit time integration
scheme.
• Alternatively, If we set β=1 β= 2 1 the acceleration is estimated
from its value at time t + ∆t . This is known as an implicit time
integration scheme.

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 Newmark Time Integration Methods
• The acceleration at the start and end of the time step is
computed using the finite element equations of motion.
• At time t , we have
 n = M −1 ( −Ku n + f n )
u
• At time t + ∆t , we have
 n +1 + Ku n +1 − f n +1 =
Mu 0
 ∆t 2 
⇒ Mu  n +1 + K u n + ∆tu n +
2
[ (1 − β 2 ) un + β 2un +1 ] − fn +1 =0
 
 1 2   ∆ t 2 
⇒  M + β 2 ∆t K  u  n +1 = −K u n + ∆tu n + (1 − β 2 ) un  + fn +1
 2   2 

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 Newmark Time Integration Methods
• We can write the recurrence formula in terms of an effective
stiffness and load vector:
ˆ  n +1 = fˆn +1
Ku
where the effective stiffness matrix is
ˆ =M + 1 β 2 ∆t 2K
K
2
and the effective load vector is
 ∆t 2 
ˆf n +1 = −K u n + ∆tu n + (1 − β 2 ) un  + fn +1
 2 
• After this step, the values of u n+1 and u n+1 can be found from
∆t 2
u n +=1 u n + ∆tun +
2
[ (1 − β 2 ) un + β 2un +1 ]
u n +=  n + ∆t [(1 − β1 ) u
1 u  n + β1u n +1 ]
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 Newmark Time Integration Methods
• Note that the calculation of K̂ and f̂ requires the knowledge of
0 . In practice, we do not
the initial conditions u 0 , u 0 and u
know u0. As an approximation, it can be calculated from
0 = M −1 ( −Ku 0 + f0 )
u
• The algorithm is
Initial Calculations
1. Form the global matrices M and K;
2. Assemble the effective stiffness matrix K̂ . Modify it for
essential boundary conditions. Factor K̂ .
3. 0 . Select ∆t .
Initialize u 0 , u 0 and u
At Each Time Step
1. Assemble the effective load vector fˆn+1 . Modify it for
essential boundary conditions.
2. Solve for acceleration un+1 . Then solve for u n+1 and u n+1.
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 Example: 1D dynamic problem
∂ 2u
∂ ∂u 
L
ρ A 2 −  EA  = f ( x, t )
t ∂t ∂x  ∂x 
x =
f 0,=ρ 100,=
A 1,=
E 100,= L 5,= t 10

The traction t=10 is applied suddenly at t=0 and then is held constant.

• As an example, we plot the variation

of the displacement at the end of the
bar (x=L) with time.
• The exact solution is a saw-tooth,
amplitude 0.5 and period 20 (the time
for a plane wave to make two trips
from one end of the bar to the other)

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 Stability and Accuracy
• Accuracy of a numerical scheme is a measure of the
closeness between the approximation solution and the exact
solution whereas

• Stability of a solution is a measure of the boundedness of the

approximation solution with time.
• As we might expect, the size of the time step influences both
accuracy and stability.

• Now we investigate the effects of the two adjustable

parameters in the time integration scheme.

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 Stability and Accuracy
• First, we look at the solution with β 2 = 0 (displacement update
is fully explicit). The plots below show the predicted
displacement at the end of the bar for two values of time step
∆t

• The result with smaller time step is good, but with a larger
time step the solution is oscillatory. This is an example of a
numerical instability, which is common problem in explicit
time stepping schemes. Eventually the solution blows up
completely, because the oscillation grows exponentially.
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 Stability and Accuracy
• One can show that for the equation of motion considered
here, setting
1
β 2 ≥ β1 , β1 ≥
2

makes the time stepping scheme unconditionally stable – no

oscillations will occur even for very large time steps.
1
• For all schemes in which β < β , 2 1 β1 ≥ , it is conditionally stable.
2
The stability requirement is
−1/2
1 2
∆t ≤ ∆tcri  ω max
= ( β1 − β 2 ) 
2 
whereω max is the maximum natural frequency of the eigenvalue
problem:
Kφ = λ M φ
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 Stability and Accuracy
• Stability does not necessarily mean accuracy.
• Results with a fully implicit integration scheme ( β=
1 β=
2 1 )
and a large time step ∆t =0.5 are shown below:

• This shows a different problem – energy is dissipated due to

the numerical time integration scheme.
• So a larger value of β buys stability by introducing artificial
damping, at the expense of a loss of accuracy.
• A good compromise is to set β= 1 β= 2 1/ 2

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 Stability and Accuracy
• The following schemes are special cases:
1 1
=β1 =, β2
2 2 Constant-average acceleration method (stable)

1 1
=β1 =, β2 Linear acceleration method (conditionally stable)
2 3

1
=β1 =, β2 0 Central difference method (conditionally stable)
2

3 8
=β1 = , β2 Galerkin method (stable)
2 5

3
=β1 = , β2 2 Backward difference method (stable)
2

• Note that the same mesh as that used for the transient
analysis must be used to calculate the critical time step.
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 Mass Lumping
• Recall from the Newmark time integration scheme,
accelerations are computed by solving a set of linear
equations:
 1 2   ∆t 2 
 M + β 2 ∆t K  u
 n +1 = −K u n + ∆tu n + (1 − β 2 ) un  + fn +1
 2   2 

• The mass matrix derived from the weak formulation of the

governing equation, =i.e.M e ∫ ρ NT Nd Ω is called the consistent
Ω e

mass matrix, and it is symmetric positive-definite and

nondiagonal.
• Solution of this equation is the most time-consuming part of
the procedure. But notice that if we set β 2 = 0 and somehow
find a way to make the mass matrix diagonal, then the
equation above becomes trivial and thus will lead to saving
computational time.
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 Mass Lumping
• There are several ways of constructing diagonal mass
matrices, also known as lumped mass matrices. The row-
sum and diagonal scaling are discussed here.

• In all of these, the essential requirement of mass

preservation is satisfied, i.e.


M aa ∫Ω ρ d Ω
∑= e
e
a
where M aa is the diagonal component of the lumped mass
 .
matrix M

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 Mass Lumping
• Row-Sum Lumping:
The sum of the elements of each row of the consistent mass
matrix is used as the diagonal element:
 = ∑M ,
M  = 0, a ≠ b
M
aa ab ab
b
It can be computed as:

n
e
= ∑ ∫Ω ρ N a N= ∫Ω ρ N a d Ω
bd Ω
e e
M aa e e

b =1
n
where the property ∑ Nb = 1 of the interpolation functions is
b =1
used.

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 Mass Lumping
• Diagonal scaling procedure:
 Here the diagonal elements of the lumped mass matrix are
computed to be proportional to the diagonal elements of the
consistent mass matrix while conserving the total mass of
the element
 = cM ,
M  = 0, a ≠ b
M
aa aa ab

with the constant c selected to satisfy 

∑=
M ∫ ρ d Ω e
aa Ω e

a
 It can be computed as:
n
 e= c ∫ ρ N N d Ωe ,=
M c ∫ ρ d Ω e
∑ ∫Ω ρ N a N a d Ω
e
aa Ω a a
e
Ω e e

a =1
 For constant ρ, this method gives the same lumped mass
matrix as those obtained in the row-sum technique for the
Lagrange linear and quadratic elements.
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 Mass Lumping
• The use of a lumped mass matrix in transient analysis can
save computational time in two ways.
• First, for the explicit scheme, lumped mass matrix results in
explicit algebraic equations not requiring matrix inversions.
• Second, the critical time step required for conditionally stable
scheme is larger, and hence less computational time is
required when lumped mass matrix is used. But this may
lead to some accuracy loss.
• Explicit time integration is cheap, easy to implement and is
therefore a very popular technique. Its disadvantage is that it
is conditionally stable and can require very small time steps.

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 Transient Field Problems
• A variety of transient field problems, such as heat and fluid
flow, are governed by differential equations of the following
form:
∂u  
c = − ∇ • ( D∇u ) f ( x, y, t ), in Ω
∂t
with the boundary conditions
=
u uˆ or =
qn qˆn on Γ ( t ≥ 0 )
The initial conditions (i.e. at t=0) are of the form

u ( x, y,0) u0 ( x, y ) in Ω
=

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 Semidiscrete Finite Element Model
• In selecting the approximation for u , once again we assume
that the time dependence can be separated from the space
variation,
u e ( x, y, t ) = N e ( x, y )d e ( t )

• Then the semidiscrete finite element model is

Mu (t ) + Ku(t ) =
f (t )
where
=Me ∫ cN Nd Ω (element `mass ' matrix)
T
Ω e

= e
∫ B D B dΩ
e e e
T

K
Ω e

= ∫ N qn d Γ + ∫ N fd Ω
e e e
T T

f
Γ e

t
Ω e

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 Eigenvalue Analysis
• The problem of finding u = φ e − λ t such that the following
equation holds is called an eigenvalue problem
Mu + Ku = 0
• We obtain
( −λ M + K ) φ =
0
• Rearranging terms, we also have the generalized eigenvalue
problem
Kφ = λ M φ
The order of the matrix equations is N × N , where N is the
number of nodes at which the solution is not known.
• Before solving the eigenvalue problem, you need to modify
the matrices to impose the essential boundary conditions.
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 Transient Analysis: Time Integration
• The most commonly used scheme for transient analysis is
the θ-family of approximation in which a weighted average of
the time derivatives at two consecutive time step is
approximated by linear interpolation of the values of the
variable at the two steps:
u n +1 − u n
(1 − θ=
) u n + θ u n +1 for 0 ≤ θ ≤ 1
∆t
or
u n +1 =u n + u n +θ ∆t
(1 − θ ) u n + θ u n +1
u n +θ =

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 Numerical Time Integration Scheme
• Since the semidiscrete finite element mode is valid for any
t>0, we can write it for times t = tn and t = tn +1:
Mu n + Ku n =
fn u n = M −1 (−Ku n + f n )
Mu n +1 + Ku n +1 =
f n +1 u n +1 =M −1 (−Ku n +1 + f n +1 )
• Substituting u n and u n+1 into
u n +1 − u n
(1 − θ ) u n + θ u n +1 =
we arrive at ∆t

∆t (1 − θ ) ( −Ku n + f n ) + θ ( −Ku n +1 + f n +1=

) Μ (u n +1 − u n )

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 Numerical Time Integration Scheme

∆t (1 − θ ) ( −Ku n + f n ) + θ ( −Ku n +1 + f n +1=

) Μ (u n +1 − u n )
• Solve for vector u n+1 , we have
ˆ n +1 = fˆn +1
Ku
where
ˆ n +1 = M + θ∆tK
K
fˆn +1 =∆t [θ f n +1 + (1 − θ ) f n ] + [ M − (1 − θ )∆tK ] u n

• After assembly and imposing boundary conditions, this

equation is solved at each time step for the nodal values u n+1

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 Numerical Time Integration Scheme
• For different values of θ, we obtain the following well-known
time integration schemes:
0, the forward difference (or Euler) scheme (conditionally stable);order of accuracy = Ο(∆t)
1
 , the Crank-Nicolson scheme ( unconditonally stable); Ο(∆t) 2

θ = 2
2 , the Galerkin method (unconditionally stable); Ο(∆t) 2
3
1, the backward difference scheme (unconditionally stable); Ο(∆t)

• For all numerical schemes in which θ < ½, the θ-family of
approximations is stable only if the time step satisfies the
following stability condition
2
∆t ≤ ∆tcri =
(1 − 2θ ) λ
where λ is the largest eigenvalue associated with the
problem
Kφ = λ M φ

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