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/

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 Finite element approximation of 2D BVP
• Find a function u( x, y ) ∈ H 1 (Ω), such that u ( s ) u ( s ), s ∈ Γu ≡ ∂Ω1
=

and the following holds:

 
∫  k ( x, y)∇u ( x, y) • ∇w( x, y) + b( x, y)u ( x, y)w( x, y )  dxdy + ∫=
Ω1
 puwds
∂Ω 2
∫ f wdxdy + ∫ γ wds
Ω ∂Ω 2

for all functions w( x, y ) ∈ H 1 (Ω) with=

w 0 on ∂Ω1 (here
= γ pu ).

• Let us re-write this explicitly as:

  ∂u ∂w ∂u ∂w  
∫Ω   ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y 
k + + b ( x , y )u ( x , y ) w( x , y )  dxdy + ∫ puwds=
 ∂Ω 2
∫ f wdxdy + ∫ γ wds
Ω ∂Ω 2
1

for all w( x, y ) ∈ H 1 (Ω) with= w 0 on ∂Ω , where

1 = γ pu .

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
N. Zabaras (03/06/2014) 2
 Finite element approximation of 2D BVP
• We approximate the domain with E finite elements and
N nodes placing nodes and elements in such a way
that element boundaries coincide as close as possible
to the interface with jump in k.

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 Finite element approximation of 2D BVP
• We define an N-dimensional subspace Hh of H1(Ωh) by
constructing appropriate global basis functions
N i , i = 1, 2,.., N using the elements we discussed earlier.

• A typical test function in Hh is of the form:

N
wh ( x, y ) = ∑ w j N j ( x, y )
j =1

wh ( x j , y j )

• In general the essential BC data (Dirichlet data) uin ∂Ω1

is approximated as:
u h ( s ) = ∑ u j N j ( x( s ), y ( s ))
j

where the sum is over all nodes on ∂Ω1h .

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design
CORNELL
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 FEM problem statement
N

• Find a function uh ∈ H , such that uh ( x, y ) = ∑ u j N j ( x, y)

h

j =1

and u j = u j at the nodes on ∂Ω1h so the following holds:
  ∂uh ∂wh ∂uh ∂wh  
∫Ω  k  ∂x ∂x + ∂y ∂y  + b( x, y)uh ( x, y)wh ( x, y)  dxdy + ∂Ω∫ puh wh ds = ∫
Ωh
f wh dxdy + ∫
∂Ω 2 h
γ wh ds
h 2h

for all wh ∈ H h with=

wh 0 on ∂Ω1h .

• The above equation leads to the following system of

algebraic equations:
N

∑ K=
u
j =1
ij j F=
i, i 1, 2,.., N
  ∂N i ∂N j ∂N i ∂N j  
K ij ∫  k 
= +  + b( x, y ) N i N j  dxdy + ∫ pN i N j ds, =
i, j 1,..., N Symmetric,
Ωh  
∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y   ∂Ω 2 h
banded

=Fi
Ωh
∫ fN i dxdy + ∫
∂Ω 2 h
γ N i ds

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 Finite element approximation
• Each of the integrals in the stiffness and load vector can be
computed as the sum of contributions from each element in
the mesh. But we need to approach this more carefully!
• Let Ωe denote a typical finite element. The exact solution u
on Ωe of our BVP satisfies:
 
∫  k ∇u • ∇w + buw
Ωe
 =  dxdy
 ∫
Ωe
f wdxdy −
∂Ωe
∫σ n wds

for all admissible functions w( x, y ),

where σ n is the normal component of the flux at ∂Ωe .

• Let uhe whe

and denote the restrictions of the approximations
uh and wh to Ωe . Then the local approximation of the
variational BVP over Ωe is:
∫  h h h wh  dxdy
 ∇ • ∇ + = ∫ f whe dxdy − ∫ σn
e e e e
k u w bu whe ds
Ωe Ωe ∂Ωe exact flux on
∂Ωe ( not known )

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 Finite element approximation
 e  e
∫  h h h wh  dxdy
 ∇ • ∇ + = ∫ f whe dxdy − ∫ σn
e e
k u w bu whe ds
Ωe Ωe ∂Ωe exact flux on
∂Ωe ( not known )

• Since=wh 0 on ∂Ω1h, there will be no contribution in the last

integral from elements with sides that coincide with ∂Ω1h .
• We already have in place the following approximations:
Ne Ne
= e
w ( x)
h
e
i i
=i 1 =j 1
e e
h ∑=
w N ( x, y ), u ( x) ∑ u N e
j
e
j ( x, y )

where N ( x, y) are the shape functions in Ωe and

e
j Ne the
number of nodes in Ωe .
• The following linear system is then obtained:

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Element equations
Ne

∑ ij j i i , i =
k e e
u
j =1
=−
f e
σ e
1, 2,.., N e

  ∂N e
∂N e
∂N e
∂N e
 
kij ∫  k 
= +  + bN i N j  dxdy
e i j i j e e
 ∂x ∂x ∂ ∂ Element stiffness matrix
 
Ωe 
y y  

fi e = ∫
Ωe
fN ie dxdy Element load vector

Element flux vector

obtained by assigning to node
σ ie = ∫ σ n N ie ds i of Ωe a weighted average of
the actual flux σ n across ∂Ωe .
∂Ωe

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Assembly process
• The global system of equations is obtained by summing
over all elements E in the mesh.
– We expand the element stiffness k e to a matrix NxN K e
with zeros everywhere except those rows and columns
corresponding to nodes within Ωe and f and σ
e e

will be expanded to Nx1 vectors F e and Σe with nonzero

entries only in those rows corresponding to nodes in Ωe

E   ∂N i ∂N j ∂N i ∂N j   E

∑ ∫  k 
∂x ∂x
+
∂y ∂y 
 + bN i N j  dxdy = ∑ K e
ij , i, j = 1, 2,..., N
Ωe  
e 1=  e 1
E E

=e 1 =
∑∫ fN=
i dxdy ∑=
F ,i
i
e
1, 2,..., N
Ωe e 1

∑( K u i )
E
e
ij j − Fi
e
+ =
Σ e
0,=i 1,2,..., N
e =1

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Boundary conditions

∑( K u Σie ) 0,=
E
e
ij j − Fi e + = i 1,2,..., N
e =1

• Note that the contributions to Kij and Fi from boundary

conditions must enter the problem through the terms Σ i .
e

– We note that the sum of the contour integrals can be

written as:
E

∑ i i i i , =i 1,2,..., N
Σ=e

e =1
S (0)
+ S (1)
+ S (2)

E
=∑ ∫
E E
Si(0) = ∑ Si(1) = ∑
(2)
σ n N i ds
∫ σ n N i ds ∫ σ n N i ds S i
e =1 ∂Ω 2 h
e =1 ∂Ωe −∂Ω h e=1 ∂Ω1 h
Portion of the boundary ∂Ω e
∂Ωe −∂Ω h
of Ω e not on ∂Ω h
(interelement boundaries)
MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design
CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 Boundary conditions
E
S i
(0)
=∑ ∫ σ n N i ds
e =1 ∂Ωe −∂Ω h

• This vector is defined only at interior nodes. Consider

the patch of 4 elements sharing node 1.
E
S i
(0)
∑ ∫ σ n N1ds =
=
e =1 ∂Ωe
∫ σ n N1ds + ∫ σ n N1ds ∫ σ n N1ds + ∫ σ n N1ds
Γ1 Γ2 Γ3 Γ4

• From the conservation law

σ  = 0
n
across an interface
where no point or line sources
are applied. Thus if f is smooth
in the patch shown Si(0) = 0

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Boundary conditions
E
S i
(0)
=∑ ∫ σ n N i ds
e =1 ∂Ωe −∂Ω h

• When the source f contains a line source or

concentrated point source, then σ n  is equal to the
intensity of the line source.
• We can include point sources by writing f(x,y) as
) f ( x, y ) + f δ ( x − xi , y − yi )
f ( x, y=
 
smooth part po int source at ( xi , yi )∈Ω h

• We assume that the mesh is constructed so that there

is a node at the source location.

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Boundary conditions
) f ( x, y ) + f δ ( x − xi , y − yi )
E
=∑ f ( x, y=
∫ σ n N i ds
(0)
S i  
e =1 ∂Ωe −∂Ω h smooth part po int source at ( xi , yi )∈Ω h

• For source at node 1 in the figure, we have:

4 4
S i
(0)
∑=
∫ σ N ds
e 1=
n i ∑ ∫ σ n N1ds
∂Ωe −∂Ω h m 1 Γm


weighted average of the jumps
at node 1

Si(0) = f

• The presence of sources

leads to very singular
solutions u.

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 Boundary conditions
E
S i
(1)
=∑ ∫σ n N i ds
e =1 ∂Ω1 h

• The values of uh are prescribed at ∂Ω . Since σ n is 1h

not known on ∂Ω1h , Si(1) cannot be described here.

However, once all nodal u1,u2,…uN are computed, we
(1)
can evaluate Si from

∑( K u i )
E
e
ij j − Fi
e
+ =
Σ e
0,=i 1,2,..., N
e =1

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 Boundary conditions
E
S i
(2)
=∑ ∫ σ n N i ds
e =1 ∂Ω 2 h

• On ∂Ω 2 h the natural boundary condition is prescribed.

There we set= σ n ( s ) p( s )uh ( s ) − γ ( s )

E
 N
 N
Si(2) = ∑ ∫  p ∑ u j N j − γ  N i ds = ∑ Pij u j − γ i
=e 1 = ∂Ω 2 h  j 1  =j 1
E E
=γi ∫ γ Ni ds
=
= e 1=
∑ ∫ γ Ni ds
= ∑i
γ e

∂Ω 2h ∂Ωe2 h e 1
E E
=Pij
=
∫ pNi N j ds
=
e 1=
∑ ∫ =
pN i N j ds ∑ ij
P e

∂Ω 2 h ∂Ωe2 h e 1

portion of ∂Ωe
int er sec ting ∂Ω2 h

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Final algebraic equations
• The final system of equations is given as:
N

∑ ij j i i , i =
K u
j =1
=F − S (1)
1,2,..., N

E E
Kij =∑ ( Kije + Pije ), Fi =∑ ( Fi e + γ ie )
=e 1=e 1

• Once boundary conditions are imposed on ∂Ω1h we can

proceed solving the system of equations for the
unknown nodal values.

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Example
• Consider the FEM
solution of the following
problem:
−∆
=u ( x, y ) f ( x, y ) in Ω

=u 0 on Γ 41
∂u
= 0 on Γ12 , Γ 25, Γ 67 , Γ 74,
∂n

∂u
+ β u = γ on Γ56
∂n
∂Ω1h = ∂Ω1
∂Ω 2 = Γ12 ∪ Γ 25 ∪ Γ56 ∪ Γ 67 ∪ Γ 74,
∂Ω 2 h = ∂Ω 2
∂Ω1 = Γ 41
MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design
CORNELL
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 Example
• Element 1:
 k11
1 1
k12 1
k13 0 0 0 0
 1 
 k21 k22
1 1
k23 0 0 0 0
 1 1 1 
 k31 k32 k33 0 0 0 0
K1 =  0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ∂Ω1h = ∂Ω1
 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  f11  ∂Ω = ∂Ω
 1 2h 2

 f2 
 1
 f3 
F =0 
1

 
0
 0  ∂Ω = Γ ∪ Γ 25 ∪ Γ56 ∪ Γ 67 ∪ Γ 74,
  2 12
 0  ∂Ω1 = Γ 41
MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design
CORNELL
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 Example
• Element 2:
 k11
2 2
0 k12 2
k13 0 0 0
 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k 2 2
0 k22 2
k23 0 0 0
 21 
K = k 2
2
2
0 k32 2
k33 0 0 0
31
 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ∂Ω1h = ∂Ω1
 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  f12 
  ∂Ω 2 h = ∂Ω 2
0
 f 2
 2
F =  f 2
2
3
 
0
0 ∂Ω 2 = Γ12 ∪ Γ 25 ∪ Γ56 ∪ Γ 67 ∪ Γ 74,
 
0 ∂Ω1 = Γ 41
MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design
CORNELL
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 Example
• Element 6:
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
0 6
0 k11 6
0 k12 6
k13 0
 
K = 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 6
0 k21 6
0 k22 6
k23 0
 
0 6
0 k31 6
0 k32 6
k33 0 ∂Ω1h = ∂Ω1
 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0  ∂Ω = ∂Ω
0 2h 2

 
 f16 
 
F = 0 
1

 6
 f2 
 f 6 ∂Ω 2 = Γ12 ∪ Γ 25 ∪ Γ56 ∪ Γ 67 ∪ Γ 74,
 3
0  ∂Ω1 = Γ 41
MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design
CORNELL
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 Example problem: Assembly
 K11 K12 K13 K14 0 0 0 
 
 K 21 K 22 K 23 0 K 25 0 0 
 
 K31 K32 K33 K34 K35 K36 K37 
 
K =  K 41 0 K 43 K 44 0 0 K 47 
  55  56 
 0 K52 K53 0 K K 0 
  65  66 
 0 0 K 63 0 K K K 67 
 0 K 77 
 0 K 73 K 74 0 K 76 ∂Ω1h = ∂Ω1
 F1   Σ1  ∂Ω 2 h = ∂Ω 2
F   
 2  0 
 F3   0 
1 F  
F  4  − Σ 4 
=
F 5  Σ 
   5
F 6  Σ6 
  The stiffness terms with the symbol K
 F  0 
 7   will be modified once natural BC are applied.

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

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 Natural boundary conditions
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 P55 P56 0
 
0 0 0 0 P65 P66 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

0
0
 
0
γ =  0 
γ 5 
 
γ 6 
0 

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

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 Final system of equations
 K11 K12 K13 K14 0 0 0 
   u1   F1 − Σ1 
 K 21 K 22 K 23 0 K 25 0 0  u   F 
  2  2 
 K31 K32 K33 K34 K35 K36 K37  u3   F3 
=  u   
K K
 41 0 K 43 K 44 0 0 K 47   4   F4 − Σ 4 
 0    F 
K52 K53 0 K55 K56 0  u5   5 
  u
 0    F 
0 K 63 0 K 65 K 66 K 67   6   F 
6
  u7   7 
 0 0 K 73 K 74 0 K 76 K 77 

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
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 Impose essential boundary conditions

 K 22 K 23 K 25 0 0  u2   F2 
K K33 K35 K36 K37  u3   F3 
 32     
 K52 K53 K55 K56 0  u5  =  F5 
 0 K 63 K 65 K 66 K 67  u6   F6 
    
 0 K 73 0 K 76 K 77  u7   F7 

Post-processing

=
−Σ1 K12u2 + K13u3 + K14u4 − F1
=
−Σ 4 K 43u3 + K 47u7 − F4

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

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Revisiting the FEM formulation for 2D scalar field problems

• In the earlier part of this lecture, we used the stiffness

matrix and load vectors in component forms.
• We will next discuss a similar example (notation is
used from heat conduction) repeating the same
calculations but in a matrix form. These calculations
have been programmed in the 2dBVP MatLab
software.
• Let us consider the following
2D BVP: Compute T(x,y):
−∇ • ( D∇T ) = f ( x, y )
=
T T on ΓT
q =− D∇T • n =q on Γ q

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

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 2D Heat conduction – weak form
• The weak statement for this problem takes the form:
Find a function T ( x, y ) ∈ H (Ω), with =
T ( s ) T ( s ), s ∈ ΓT such that:
1

∫ {∇w} [ D]{∇T=
}dΩ ∫ Ω − ∫ qd Γ
T T T
w f d w
Ω Ω Γq

for all w( x, y ) ∈U 0

• We denote here U 0 : w ∈ H 1 (Ω) with=

w 0 on ∂ΓT

• The weak form is written in a matrix form ready for

FEM discretization, e.g.
 ∂T 
 ∂x   ∂w ∂w   qx   k xx k xy 
{ } ∂T { } 
∇ =
  ∇ = , q =
q  = −[ D]{∇T } , [ D] =
T
T , w  k k yy 
   ∂x ∂y  heat  y  Conductivity  yx
 ∂y  flux matrix

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
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 2D Heat conduction – weak form
• We replace the integrals with sum of integrals over the
finite elements:
Find a function T ( x, y ) ∈ H (Ω), with =
T ( s ) T ( s ), s ∈ ΓT such that:
1

∑ ∫ {∇w } [ D ]{=
∇T } d Ω
nel nel nel
e T
∑ ∫ w f d Ω − ∑ ∫ we qd Γ
eT T
e e

=e 1 Ωe =e 1 =
Ωe e 1 Γq

for all w( x, y ) ∈U 0

• The finite element interpolation formula for the

temperature in each element is:
 T1e 
 e
N e  {d e }  N e   Le  {d }
T
=
T ( x, y ) N=
e e
( x, y ) d e
 N1 N 2 ... N nen
e e
=
e
  2  =
  ...   
[ N ] matrix  e  scatter global
matrix nodal

Tnen  temperatures

{d e}

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
N. Zabaras (03/06/2014) 27
 2D Heat conduction – FE interpolation
• The gradient fields of Te and we are obtained as:
 ∂T e   ∂N1e e ∂N 2e e ∂N nen e   ∂N1e ∂N 2e ∂N nen   T1 
e e e

 ∂x   ∂x T1 + ∂x T2 + ... + ∂x Tnen   ∂x ∂
...
∂ Te 
{∇T =}  ∂T e =
e
 e
 ∂N1 e ∂N 2 e
e

=
∂N nen e 
e
 e
 ∂N1 ∂N 2
x
e
=
x   2  =
∂N nen   ... 
e  B e ( x, y )  {d e }  B e   Le  {d }
 
   ∂y T1 + ∂y T2 + ... + ∂y Tnen   ∂y ...   e  scatter global
 ∂y     ∂y
 
∂y nodal
Tnen  matrix
temperatures

The  B e  matrix {d e}

Here, nen: number element nodes

• Similarly for the gradient of we:

 ∂N1e ∂N1e 
 ∂y 
 ∂x
 ∂N 2e ∂N 2e 
 ∂we ∂we   
{∇=
w} 
e T
{w }
e T
{w}
T T T
=  B e ( x=
, y )   w1e w2e .. wnen   ∂x =  Le   B e 
T
e
∂y 
 ∂x ∂y    
 ... ... 
{w }
e T scatter
 e  matrix

 ∂N nen ∂N nen 
e

 ∂x ∂y 


MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
N. Zabaras (03/06/2014) 28
 2D Heat conduction – weak form
• We can substitute these expressions into the weak
form
∑ ∫ {∇w } ∇T } d Ω
[ D ]{=
nel nel nel

=e 1 Ωe
e T e e

=e 1 =
∑∫w eT
f d Ω − ∑ ∫ w qd Γ ⇒
eT

Ωe e 1 Γe
q

nel  
{w} ∑  L   ∫  B  [ D ]  B  d Ω  L  {d } − ∫  N  f d Ω + ∫  N  qd Γd Ω  = 0 ∀{wF }
e T e T e T e T
T e e e

e =1  Ωe Ωe Γ eq 

• Note as we did earlier for the 1D BVP, the vector w was

partitioned as follows:
d E   wE = 0   0 
={d }  =  , {w} =  w 
 F
d  w F   F

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
N. Zabaras (03/06/2014) 29
 2D Heat conduction – weak form
nel  
{w} ∑  L   ∫  B  [ D ]  B  d Ω  L  {d } − ∫  N  f d Ω + ∫  N  qd Γ  = 0 ∀{wF }
e T e T e T e T
T e e e

e =1
 Ωe Ωe Γ eq 

• From this equation, we can easily identify:

 K  ∫e  
 e T
   { } ∫e   ∫e   qd Γ
T T
e
B [ D e
] B
 
e
d Ω= f e
 N e
 f d Ω −  N e

Ω 
Ω
  Γq
 
{ Ω}
f e
{ fΓ }
e

• We now can write the weak form as:

 
 nel
T   nel e T e  
e 
{w}  ∑  L   K   L   {d } −  ∑  L  f   =
e T e
0 ∀{wF }
= 
e 1=  e1 
 Re sidual {r} 

MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design

CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
N. Zabaras (03/06/2014) 30
2D Heat conduction – global stiffness and load
 
 nel
T   nel e T e  
e 
{w}  ∑  L   K   L   {d } −  ∑  L  f   =
e T e
0 ∀{wF }
= 
e 1=  e1 
 Re sidual {r} 
• The global stiffness and load can now be written:

{f }
nel nel
[ K ] = ∑  L   K   L  { f } = ∑  Le 
e T e e T e

e =1 e =1

• Utilizing the partition of w, the weak form is written as:

 rE   K E K EF   d E   f E 
{wF } {rF } + {wE } {rE } =∀
T T
0, {wF } ⇒ {rF }= 0 ⇒ {r=}  = K   − ⇒
Fr = 0   FE KF  dF   fF 

 KE K EF   d E   f E + rE  This follows exactly the solver in our

K  = MatLab 2DBVP program. rE here are the
 FE K F   d F   f F 
 fluxes on the boundaries with essential BCs.
They are computed after this system
of equations is solved for dF.
MAE 4700 – FE Analysis for Mechanical & Aerospace Design
CORNELL
U N I V E R S I T Y
N. Zabaras (03/06/2014) 31