Received: 25 July 2018

DOI: 10.1002/cae.22097
| Accepted: 18 November 2018

RESEARCH ARTICLE

LESM—An object-oriented MATLAB program for structural

analysis of linear element models

Rafael Lopez Rangel | Luiz Fernando Martha

Department of Civil and Environmental

Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University
of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Correspondence
Luiz Fernando Martha, Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering, Pontifical
Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua
Marquês de São Vicente 225–Gávea, Rio
de Janeiro, RJ, 22451-900, Brazil.
Email: lfm@tecgraf.puc-rio.br
Funding information
National Council for Scientific and
Technological Development (CNPq); the
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de
Janeiro (PUC-Rio); the PUC-Rio Technical-
Scientific Software Development Institute
(Tecgraf/PUC-Rio)
Abstract
This paper describes the implementation of a MATLAB program based on the Object
Oriented Programming paradigm for linear-elastic analysis of one-dimensional
element models using a conventional displacement-based procedure. The main
objective is the development of an educational tool on matrix structural analysis with
a didactic and well-documented open source code, which allows any user to
implement new procedures with relative simplicity. The LESM (Linear Elements
Structure Model) program can handle different types of analysis models, such as 2D/
3D frames and trusses, and grillages. In addition, both Euler-Bernoulli and
Timoshenko theories for bending behavior of beam elements are considered. The
OOP class architecture was devised for generically handling these different types of
analyses models and element types. The MATLAB script codes of all classes and
methods of LESM, including its documentation, are available in its site (www.
tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm).

KEYWORDS
educational software, MATLAB program, matrix structural analysis, object-oriented-programming

1 | INTRODUCTION of structures [3]. However, practicing with closed programs,

One of the most important fields of study that must be
mastered by every civil engineering student is the structural
analysis. It consists of modeling a structure, evaluating its
behavior and interpreting the analysis results. The advances in
computer science turned structural analysis into a process of
computational simulation of structures behavior. There are
many available structural analysis programs, some of them
are intended for commercial use, while others
have educational or scientific purposes, such
as [1,3,16,17,19,21,29,30,33]. It is noticed that most
commercial software works like a “black-box,” where all
the process of computing the results is hidden from users.
Usage of closed structural analysis programs is very
important in the design of structures and is also beneficial in
the educational process of engineering, since students can
improve their design skills and their sensibility to the response
Comput Appl Eng Educ. 2019;1–19.
without understanding how they are implemented, deprives
students of the implementation phase. This intermediate
stage, between theory and the blind use of a program, is very
important for the assimilation of a computer-based method.
Therefore, tools where students can work at the source code
level, or allow students to be a part of the process of creating
the apps that will be used to solve their problems [5], are
necessary to complement theoretical aspects.
Even though there are a number of educational programs
that share the approach of providing open source code, very
few of them have adequate and didactic documentation. This
paper presents an educational tool with transparent imple-
mentation in order to meet this lack of appropriate tools for
teaching matrix structural analysis.
The LESM (Linear Elements Structure Model) program
was developed at the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering of Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de
wileyonlinelibrary.com/cae © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1
2
| RANGEL
Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and at the Institute of Technical-
Scientific Software Development of PUC-Rio (Tecgraf/
PUC-Rio). It performs linear-elastic analysis of two and
three-dimensional linear element models, such as frames,
trusses, and grillages, using the direct stiffness method. The
two most common theories for the idealization of bending
behavior of beam elements are considered: Euler-Bernoulli
and Timoshenko. The program was designed as a
complementary tool for undergraduate and graduate
structural analysis courses at PUC-Rio, focusing on the
development of simple and didactic algorithms to perform
each step of the analysis.
Some features of the LESM program that provide students
an efficient way to learn and practice aspects of computational
implementation on structural analysis are:

MATLAB programming language: The development of
programs in MATLAB is done in a high-level program-
ming language with an extensive library of predefined
functions, making it easy to understand even for those who
are not familiar with any programming language. Oper-
ations and manipulation of matrices and vectors, which is
very frequent in a structural analysis programs, can be
executed with simple commands [8].

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP): This programming
paradigm is based on the idea of classes, data abstraction,
encapsulation, polymorphism, and inheritance [6,9,24].
These features are great facilitators for understanding
the code structure and has proven to be very beneficial
to the development and maintenance of flexible
and extendable engineering programs as shown
by [2,11,12,18,20,23,25,26,34].

Documentation: A well-documented code is the key to make
it easier to understand, maintain, modify, and extend. The
source code of LESM is fully commented with detailed
explanations of each file and function. In addition, it is
represented by the UML pattern, whose diagrams graphi-
cally show different aspects of the program design [7].

Available source code and documentation: The MATLAB
script codes of all classes and methods of LESM,
including its documentation, are available in its site 1;
see Published Files2 and Methods Diagram3. In
addition, a link to the URL address of each method
is provided.
The second section of this paper describes the consider-
ations of the different analysis models supported by the
LESM program. The third section aims to present the
1
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm
2
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/main.html
3
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/MethodsDiagram.pdf
AND MARTHA
organization and relationships of the OOP classes of LESM,
and justify the advantages of the OOP approach in a structural
analysis program. The fourth section brings the main concepts
involved in the idealization of linear elements behavior. The
fifth section shows how objects relate to perform the
structural analysis according to the steps of the direct
stiffness method. The sixth section demonstrates the use of
the program and the benefits of adopting the OOP paradigm.
The seventh section describes the educational methodology
adopted in relation to working in the source code level and
gives some feedback from student experience. Finally, the last
section gives some concluding remarks and points to future
developments.
2 | ANALYSIS MODELS
This section describes the types of analysis models handled by
LESM. These analysis models are frequently adopted as
analytical abstractions of the behavior of structural systems.
In this work, members of any type of analysis model are
generically referred to as elements.
Two coordinate systems are used to locate points and
define directions in space. Both of them are Cartesian,
orthogonal, and right-handed systems. Every structural
model is disposed in an absolute coordinate system called
global system (XYZ), and each of its elements has its own
coordinate system called local system (xyz). Two-
dimensional models are always considered laid in the
global XY-plane.
2.1 | Truss analysis model

Truss elements are bars connected by frictionless pins
(hinges), as shown in Figure 1. Therefore, a truss element
does not present any bending or torsion moment induced by
rotation continuity at nodes.

A truss model is loaded only at nodes. Any load action
along an element is statically transferred as concentrated
forces to the element ends.

There is only one type of internal force in a truss element:
axial force.

Each node of a truss model has only translational degrees-
of-freedom (DOF): displacements in X and Y-axis
directions for 2D models and X, Y, and Z-axis directions
for 3D models.
2.2 | Frame analysis model

Frame elements may be rigidly connected at nodes, or have
a hinge at one or both ends (see Figure 2).

It is assumed that a hinge in a 2D frame element releases
rotation continuity about Z-axis direction, while a hinge in
RANGEL AND MARTHA
| 3

FIGURE 1 Positive directions of the degrees-of-freedom of truss elements

FIGURE 2 Positive directions of the degrees-of-freedom of frame elements

FIGURE 3 Positive directions of the degrees-of-freedom of a grillage element

a 3D frame element releases rotation continuity in all
directions.

Internal forces of a 2D frame element are axial force (in x-
axis direction), shear force (in y-axis direction), and
bending moment (about z-axis direction).

Internal forces of a 3D frame element are axial force (in x-
axis direction), shear forces (in y-axis and z-axis
directions), bending moments (about y-axis and z-axis
directions), and torsion moment (about x-axis direction).

Each node of a 2D frame model has three DOF:
displacements in X and Y-axis directions, and rotation
about Z-axis direction.

Each node of a 3D frame model has six DOF: displace-
ments in X, Y, and Z-axis directions, and rotations about X,
Y, and Z-axis directions.
2.3 | Grillage analysis model

Beam elements are laid out in a grid pattern in the XY-plane,
rigidly connected at nodes, or with a hinge at one or both
ends (see Figure 3).

It is assumed that a hinge in a grillage element releases
continuity of both flexural and torsion rotations.
4
| RANGEL
FIGURE 4 UML class definitions of the LESM program

By assumption, there is only out-of-plane behavior, which
includes displacements transversal to the grillage plane,
and rotations about in-plane axes.

Internal forces of a grillage element are shear force (in z-
axis direction), bending moment (about y-axis direction)
and torsion moment (about x-axis direction).

Each node of a grillage model has three DOF: displacement
in Z-axis direction, and rotations about X and Y-axis
directions.
3 | OBJECT ORIENTED
PROGRAMMING CLASSES
The development of computer programs with the OOP
approach consists in the construction of independent
modules, called objects, which can be easily reused, modified
AND MARTHA
and replaced. In this case, the program is a collection of
distinct objects that relate to perform some type of activity.
For further insight on the OOP paradigm concepts, the reader
is referred to Refs. [6,9,24], and Refs. [7,15] for information
about the UML pattern, which is used to graphically illustrate
the structure of an object-oriented code.
3.1 | The OOP classes of the LESM program
The classes adopted in a program of linear-elastic analysis of
linear elements structures arise naturally. It is intuitive that the
problem demands the definition of classes associated with
linear elements, nodes, materials, cross-sections, etc. How-
ever, the definition of some classes is not so obvious, such as a
class for handling specific aspects of different analysis
models. The classes implemented in the LESM program to
perform the structural analysis (not including subclasses) are
RANGEL AND MARTHA
described below and illustrated in Figure 4, following the
UML standard of software modeling.

Drv4 (Driver): This class defines an object that drives the
structural analysis. The main global variables of a typical
structural analysis program are properties of the Drv class.
Its methods consist of general analysis steps that do not
depend on the analysis model or element type.

Anm5 (Analysis Model): This is an abstract superclass that
declares abstract methods that define the generic behavior
of all types of analysis models. These methods are
implemented in the subclasses that deal with specific
types of analysis: Anm_Truss2D6, Anm_Truss3D7, Anm_-
Grillage8, Anm_Frame2D9, and Anm_Frame3D10.

Elem11 (Element): This is an abstract superclass that
generically specifies a three-dimensional linear element
object. This superclass implements methods related to the
generic mechanical behavior of linear elements (methods for
axial and torsional behavior), and declares abstract methods to
deal with specific flexural behaviors, which are implemented
in the subclasses Elem_Navier12 and Elem_Timoshenko13.

Lelem14 (Load Element): This is an abstract superclass that
generically specifies an object that represents element
internal loads (distributed loads and temperature varia-
tions). Load values and directions are properties of this
class, while activities related to the element behavior
subjected to load actions are methods of this class. This
superclass implements methods related to the generic axial
behavior, and declares abstract methods related to
particular flexural behaviors of elements subjected to
internal loads, which are implemented in the subclasses
Lelem_Navier15 and Lelem_Timoshenko16.

Node17: This class defines node objects. A node is a joint
between two or more elements, or any element end, used to
discretize the model. It is always considered as a three-
dimensional entity.
4
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/drv.html
5
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/anm.html
6
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/anm_truss2d.html
7
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/anm_truss3d.html
8
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/anm_grillage.html
9
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/anm_frame2d.html
10
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/anm_frame3d.html
11
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/elem.html
12
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/elem_navier.html
13
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/elem_timoshenko.html
14
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/lelem.html
15
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/lelem_navier.html
16
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/lelem_timoshenko.html
17
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/node.html
| 5

Material18: This class defines material objects. All
materials are considered to have linear-elastic behavior,
with homogeneous and isotropic properties.

Section19 (Cross-Section): This class defines cross-section
objects of a generic type, which means that particular
shapes are not specified; only their geometric properties are
provided.
As a matter of didactics, it was opted for a relaxation in the
fidelity to data encapsulation in the implementation of LESM.
Accessing the properties of an object through formal methods
makes the code a little less clear and succinct than when direct
access is allowed. Because of that, all properties are public.
In the sequel of this work, a method of the LESM program
is generally referenced by a tag name of the type Superclass.
method.
3.2 | The relationships between classes
During the analysis process, only one object of the Drv and
Anm classes is created. Meanwhile, multiple objects of the
Elem, Lelem, Node, Material, and Section classes can be
created depending on the number of entities related to these
classes the model has.
The object of the Drv class can be interpreted as an object
that represents the structural model as a whole. Therefore, this
object needs to store all model information in its properties. It
must have a handle to the object of the Anm class as well as
vectors of handles to the objects of all elements, nodes,
materials, and cross-sections.
An element in turn needs to have access to the material and
cross-section that composes it, and to the two nodes that define
its beginning and its end. It is also necessary for an element to
check which analysis model it belongs. In addition, there is a
mutual relation between an object of the Elem class and an object
of the Lelem class, since each element has its own load properties
and each load object must be associated to an element.
A graphical way of representing these relationships between
classes is through the class diagram of the UML modeling
language, presented in Figure 5 for the LESM program.
4 | IDEALIZATION OF LINEAR
ELEMENTS BEHAVIOR
In the current work, linear-elastic analysis of prismatic elements
(constant cross-section) is assumed. As a consequence, axial,
flexural, and torsional behaviors of elements are uncoupled, so
18
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19
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/publish/section.html
6
| RANGEL
FIGURE 5 UML class diagram of the LESM program
they can be considered separately and overlapping, resulting in
the same responses as when acting together.
For frame and grillage models, two bending behavior
theories are considered: Euler-Bernoulli theory (also known
as Navier beam) [4,13] and Timoshenko's theory [27,28,31].
These theories are equivalent for the axial and torsional
behaviors. Therefore, in truss models, these two theories may
be used indistinguishably, since there is only axial behavior in
a truss element. Figure 6 summarizes the formulations of both
flexural behavior theories.
The mathematical expressions necessary for the implemen-
tation of a matrix analysis program of linear element models,
considering the uncoupled deformation behavior of elements,
are shape functions, fixed-end-forces, and stiffness coefficients.
All of these expressions related to axial and torsional behaviors
are independent of the flexural behavior theory adopted. For the
flexural behavior, generic expressions are derived by introduc-
ing auxiliary parameters, following the developments of
Ref. [27], that unifies the two bending theories. These
parameters are based on the Timoshenko's dimensionless
parameter that relates bending rigidity with shear rigidity,
presented in Figure 6 and reproduced in Equation 1.
AND MARTHA
EI 1
Ω¼ ⋅ ð1Þ
GAS l2
This parameter multiplies exclusive expression terms of
Timoshenko's theory. When Euler-Bernoulli theory is
adopted, shear deformation is neglected and the shear rigidity
is assumed infinity. This assumption leads to a null value of
the Timoshenko's parameter [31] and unitary values of the
auxiliary parameters. The results are the classical expressions
of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. Therefore, the same
expressions could be used for both bending theories. In spite
of this, distinct classes were adopted to emphasize symmetry
between the expressions from both theories.
The aforementioned mathematical expressions will be
briefly discussed in the following subsections, and their
expressions are given in the LESM source code, as well as the
auxiliary parameters for bending behavior.
4.1 | Shape functions
Shape functions are used in a displacement-based matrix
analysis of linear elements to interpolate the solution of a
continuous field along an element between the discrete values
RANGEL AND MARTHA
FIGURE 6 Idealization of flexural behavior of beam elements
at its nodes. These functions are the analytical homogeneous
solution of the differential equations that governs the
uncoupled behaviors of an element when unitary field values
are assumed as essential boundary conditions. The shape
functions with suitable boundary conditions for axial
displacement and transversal displacement in xy-plane are
graphically illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, respectively.
| 7
The expressions for axial displacement shape functions are
implemented in method Elem.axialDisplShapeFcnVector20. The
implementation of transversal displacement shape functions for
both xy and xz planes are given in methods Elem.
20
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/
axialDisplShapeFcnVector.html
8
| RANGEL
FIGURE 7 Axial displacement shape functions
FIGURE 8 Transversal displacement shape functions in xy-plane
flexuralDisplShapeFcnVector_XY21 and Elem.flexuralDisplSha-
peFcnVector_XZ22 of subclasses Elem_Navier and
Elem_Timoshenko.
4.2 | Fixed-end-forces
The external solicitations distributed over an element are
transferred to its ends as equivalent nodal loads (ENL), which
must be energetically consistent to produce the same virtual work
over node displacements as the external solicitation produces
over the element displacement field. In the case of linear elements
with uniform cross-section, ENL have the connotation of fixed-
end-force (FEF) support reactions with opposite directions [10].
The determination of the FEF of a prismatic element with
both ends rigidly connected, subjected to a generic trapezoi-
dal load covering its entire length, is based on the Betti's
theorem [32], following a procedure described by Ref. [10].
The result of this procedure is a generic integral expression to
calculate all components of FEF caused by distributed loads.
Based on the principle of virtual displacements (PVD), a
similar generic expression is obtained to calculate the FEF
resulting from the effects of temperature variations on
elements [22]. To consider an element with a rotation release
at one or both ends (hinged connections), straightforward
static condensation procedures should be used [22].
21
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/
flexuralDisplShapeFcnVector_XY.html
22
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/
flexuralDisplShapeFcnVector_XZ.html
AND MARTHA
The physical interpretation of FEF for axial and flexural
behaviors are illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, respectively.
There is no torsional FEF because distributed torsional
moment is not a load type considered by the LESM program.
The axial FEF expressions are implemented in method
Lelem.axialDistribLoadFEF23, considering only the effect of a
linearly distributed load, and method Lelem.axialThermal-
LoadFEF24 considering only the effect of temperature
variation. The flexural FEF expressions considering only the
effect of a linearly distributed load are implemented in methods
Lelem.flexuralDistribLoadFEF_XY25 and Lelem.flexuralDis-
tribLoadFEF_XZ26 of subclasses Lelem_Navier and Lelem_-
Timoshenko. The flexural FEF expressions considering only
the effect of temperature variation are implemented in methods
Lelem.flexuralThermalLoadFEF_XY27 and Lelem.flexuralTh-
ermalLoadFEF_XZ28 of the same subclasses.
23
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
axialDistribLoadFEF.html
24
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
axialThermalLoadFEF.html
25
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
flexuralDistribLoadFEF_XY.html
26
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
flexuralDistribLoadFEF_XZ.html
27
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
flexuralThermalLoadFEF_XY.html
28
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
flexuralThermalLoadFEF_XZ.html
RANGEL AND MARTHA
| 9

FIGURE 9 Fixed-end-forces for linearly distributed axial load and uniform temperature variation

FIGURE 10 Fixed-end-forces for linearly distributed transversal load and uniform transversal temperature gradient

FIGURE 11 Physical interpretation of axial stiffness coefficients

FIGURE 12 Physical interpretation of flexural stiffness coefficients in local xy-plane

4.3 | Stiffness coefficients
The linear relationship between the forces and moments
acting on the element ends with its nodal displacements and
rotations is expressed by a stiffness matrix, which is
assembled by stiffness coefficients formally defined as:
kij → Force or moment in the direction of DOF i necessary
to maintain an isolated element in equilibrium when a unitary
displacement or rotation is imposed in the direction of DOF j.
The physical interpretation of axial and flexural (in local xy-
plane) stiffness coefficients are illustrated in Figures 11 and 12,
respectively, where a unitary displacement or rotation is imposed
10
| RANGEL AND MARTHA

at each element end. An analogous interpretation might be given
for flexural stiffness coefficients in xz-plane. Similarly, torsional
stiffness coefficients correspond to the resulting moments from a
unitary torsional rotation imposed at each element end.
The implementation of axial and torsional stiffness
coefficients matrices is given respectively in methods Elem.
axialStiffCoeff29 and Elem.torsionStiffCoeff30. The flexural
stiffness coefficients are implemented in methods Elem.
flexuralStiffCoeff_XY31 and Elem.flexuralStiffCoeff_XZ32 of
subclasses Elem_Navier and Elem_Timoshenko.
3.4 | Element behavior for specific analysis models
All elements are treated as three-dimensional entities, and the
flexural behavior is always specified in the two principal
planes of inertia of the element cross-section. It is up to the
analysis model of each element to assemble its shape function
matrix, FEF vector in local system, and stiffness matrix in
local system. These assemblies are made using specific terms
handled by the current analysis model.
In the LESM program, these steps are performed by the
methods Anm.displShapeFcnMtx33 (assembly of shape
function matrix), Anm.elemLocDistribLoadFEF34, and
Anm.elemLocThermalLoadFEF35 (assembly of FEF vector
for distributed load and temperature variation), and Anm.
elemLocStiffMtx36 (assembly of stiffness matrix), of the
corresponding analysis model subclass.
Equations 2, 3, and 4 exemplifies the assembly of the
mentioned arrays for a generic 3D frame element. The
analysis model of a 3D frame element is the most general
case because it makes use of all behavior types (axial,
torsional, and flexural effects in two planes).

2 3
N u1 ðxÞ 0 0 0 0 0 N u2 ðxÞ 0 0 0 0 0
6 7
½N ¼ 4 0 N v1 ðxÞ 0 0 0 N v2 ðxÞ 0 N v3 ðxÞ 0 0 0 N v4 ðxÞ 5 ð2Þ
0 0 N w1 ðxÞ 0 N w2 ðxÞ 0 0 0 N w3 ðxÞ 0 N w4 ðxÞ 0

 T
ff elg ¼ f ea1 f ef xy
1 f ef xz
1 0 f ef xz
2 f ef xy
2 f ea2 f ef xy
3 f ef xz
3 0 f ef xz
4 f ef xy
4 ð3Þ

2 3
kea11 0 0 0 0 0 kea12 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 kef xy kef xy kef xy kef xy 7
6 11 0 0 0 12 0 13 0 0 0 14 7
6 7
6 0 0 kef xz 0 kef xz 0 0 0 kef xz 0 kef xz 0 7
6 11 12 31 14 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 ket11 0 0 0 0 0 ket12 0 0 7
6 7
6 0 kef xz kef xz kef xz kef xz 0 7
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
6 21 22 23 24
7
6 0 kef xy 0 0 0 kef xy 0 kef xy 0 0 0 xy 7
kef 24 7
6 21 22 23
½kel ¼ 6 7 ð4Þ
6 kea21 0 0 0 0 0 kea22 0 0 0 0 0 7
6 7
6 7
6 0 kef xy 0 0 0 kef xy 0 kef xy 0 0 0 kef xy
34 7
6 31 32 33
7
6 0 kef xz kef xz kef xz kef xz 0 7
6 0 31 0 32 0 0 0 33 0 34 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 ket21 0 0 0 0 0 ket22 0 0 7
6 7
6 7
4 0 0 kef xz
41 0 kef xz
42 0 0 0 kef xz
43 0 kef xz
44 0 5
0 kef xy
41 0 0 0 kef xy
42 0 kef xy
43 0 0 0 kef xy
44

29 33
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/ https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
axialStiffCoeff.html displShapeFcnMtx.html
30 34
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/ https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
torsionStiffCoeff.html elemLocDistribLoadFEF.html
31 35
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/flexur- https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
alStiffCoeff_XY.html elemLocThermalLoadFEF.html
32 36
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/ https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
flexuralStiffCoeff_XZ.html elemLocStiffMtx.html
RANGEL AND MARTHA
| 11

5 | THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

PROCESS BASED ON THE OOP
CLASS ORGANIZATION

The main goal of the direct stiffness method is to compute

displacements and rotations, support reactions, and internal
forces of linear element models. This is done by solving the
following system of nodal equilibrium equations:
"     #(   ) (   )
Kf f Kf s Df Ff
½K fDg ¼ fF g →   ¼
K sf ½K ss  fDs g fF s g
ð5Þ

in which, ½K  is the global stiffness matrix, fDg is the global

displacement vector, and fFg is the global forcing vector.
This system of equations is partitioned in two parts, one for
the free DOF (subscript f ) and the other for the constrained
DOF (subscript s). The unknowns of  this system are the
free nodal displacements and rotations, Df , and the force
or moment components in the directions of fixed DOF,
fFs g. The system partitioning is done by numbering free
DOF before fixed ones.
5.1 | Initial steps
The Drv.process37 method is responsible for calling all other
methods. Figure 13 shows the UML sequence diagram for the
initial steps: dimensioning the stiffness, displacement, and
forcing arrays (method Drv.dimKFD38); numbering the
global DOF as described above (methods Anm.setupDOF-
Num39 and Drv.assembleDOFNum40); assembling the gather
vectors that store the global DOF numbers of each element
(method Drv.assembleGle41); inserting the prescribed dis-
placements in the global displacement vector (method Anm.
setupPrescDispl42).
The setupDOFNum and setupPrescDispl methods belong
to the Anm class because they need to access the specific DOF
numbers used by the elements of that analysis model. The other
methods have a generic implementation for any model type.
37
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/process.
html
38
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
dimKFD.html
39
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
setupDOFNum.html
40
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
assembleDOFNum.html
41
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
assembleGle.html
42
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
setupPrescDispl.html
FIGURE 13 UML sequence diagram of the initial steps of the
analysis process
5.2 | Assembly of the global stiffness matrix
The Drv.gblMtx43 method is responsible for assembling the
global stiffness matrix by running a loop over all elements
(see diagram of Figure 14). In each interaction, the Elem.
gblStiffMtx44 and the Drv.assembleElemMtx45 methods are
invoked. The first returns the element stiffness matrix in
global system and the second inserts its coefficients in the
correct positions of the global matrix.
The Elem.gblStiffMtx method returns an element stiffness
matrix in global system by calling the Anm.elemLocStiffMtx46
method, which provides the element matrix in local system,
and then applies a rotation transformation from local system
to global system. To assemble the element matrix in local
system, the Anm.elemLocStiffMtx method calls specific
methods of the Elem class, mentioned in the end of subsection
4.4, that return the stiffness coefficients for each element
behavior handled by its analysis model.
5.3 | Assembly of the global forcing vector
Each position of the global forcing vector, including those
constrained by supports, stores combined nodal loads. These
are the combination of applied nodal loads (concentrated
43
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/gblMtx.
html
44
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/
gblStiffMtx.html
45
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
assembleElemMtx.html
46
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
elemLocStiffMtx.html
12
| RANGEL
forces or moments) with ENL (element FEF with opposite
directions) resulting from distributed loads or temperature
variations on elements. The applied nodal loads are directly
inserted into the corresponding position of the global forcing
vector in the Anm.nodalLoad47 method.
For each element, the Drv.elemLoads48 method calls the
Lelem.gblDistribLoadENL49 and the Lelem.gblThermalLoa-
dENL50 methods (see diagram of Figure 15). These methods
return the element ENL vectors in global system for
distributed load and temperature variation, respectively.
This is done by calling the Anm.elemLocDistribLoadFEF51
method and/or the Anm.elemLocThermalLoadFEF52 method,
which provide the FEF vector in local system according to the
current analysis model, and then applying a rotation
transformation and inverting its direction. The coefficients
of the ENL vectors are inserted to the correct positions of the
global forcing vector in the Drv.assembleENL53 method.
5.4 | Solving the system of equations
The system of equilibrium equations is solved in the Drv.
solveEqnSystem54 method (indicated in Figure 15). The free
nodal displacements and rotations are obtained by the solution
of the first row of Equation 5, as follows:
   1     
Df ¼ Kf f Ff  K f s fDs g
Considering that vector fFs g previously stores combined
nodal loads applied directly to constrained DOF, to
compute the support reactions, it is necessary to superim-
pose fFs g to the solution of the second row of Equation 5:
  
fFs g ¼ fFs g þ K sf Df þ ½K ss fDs g ð7Þ
47
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
nodalLoads.html
48
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
elemLoads.html
49
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
gblDistribLoadENL.html
50
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Lelem/
gblThermalLoadENL.html
51
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
elemLocDistribLoadFEF.html
52
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
elemLocThermalLoadFEF.html
53
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
assembleENL.html
54
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
solveEqnSystem.html
AND MARTHA
5.5 | Computation of internal forces
Internal forces of elements are computed at its ends
considering the effects of global and local analysis. The
effects of global analysis come from the results of nodal
displacements and rotations of the system of equilibrium
equations while the local fixed-end effects come from
distributed loads or temperature variations on elements.
The internal forces from local analysis are the FEF. To
compute element internal forces from global analysis, its nodal
displacements, fdegg, is extracted from the global displace-
ment vector and rotated to the local system, fdelg. The
displacement vector in the local system is then multiplied
by the element stiffness matrix, ½kel, resulting in internal
forces acting in the directions of the element local DOF:
ff elg ¼ ½kel½Rfdegg ¼ ½kelfdelg ð8Þ
The computation of internal forces is performed by the
Drv.elemIntForce55 method, as shown in the sequence
diagram of Figure 16. In each iteration of a loop over all
elements, the Anm.initIntForce56 method is called to initialize
the vectors of internal forces with null values. The results
from global analysis is returned from the Elem.gblAnlInt-
Force57 method. This method computes the internal forces at
the ends of each element based on its nodal displacements and
ð6Þ rotations. The results from local analysis are previously stored
when local FEF are calculated. The combination of the results
from global and local analyses are then added to the internal
forces vector in the Anm.assembleIntForce58 method.
6 | EXAMPLE
A simple 2D frame model is adopted to demonstrate the use of
the LESM program and the OOP approach. Figure 17 shows a
frame in the XY-plane with three nodes and two elements,
both Navier beams. Node 1 is restricted in the Y-axis
direction, node 3 is restricted in the X and Y-axis directions,
and element 2 has a uniform distributed load of 5 kN/m. The
input data file read by the program is also presented. It is a text
file, with .lsm extension, that stores all the information needed
for the analysis following the neutral file format described in
Ref. [14].
The developed OOP class organization allows a generic
treatment of the model attributes. All node, element, load, and
55
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Drv/
elemIntForce.html
56
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
initIntForce.html
57
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Elem/
gblAnlIntForce.html
58
https://web.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/lesm/v1/methods/Methods%20Anm/
assembleIntForce.html
RANGEL AND MARTHA
cross-section objects are three-dimensional entities, which
means that their properties store the values read from all three
dimensions. It is up to an object of the Anm class (in fact, an
object of a subclass of the Anm superclass) to identify which
uncoupled behaviors and DOF must be used for the assembly
of the system of equilibrium equations.
For example, the method Anm.elemLocStiffMtx, to
assemble the stiffness matrix of an element in local system,
needs to access stiffness coefficients associated with different
behaviors of the element in different planes, depending on the
analysis model. The assembly of this matrix for a 3D frame
was presented in Equation 4. For the given 2D frame, it is
necessary to obtain the axial stiffness coefficients and the
Navier formulation of flexural stiffness coefficients in the xy-
plane, using the Elem.axialStiffCoeff and Elem.flexuralStiff-
Coeff_XY methods, according to the scripts shown in the
sequel:
| 13
Thus, the element does not need to adapt to the analysis model,
having its behavior available to any model that requests it. The
Anm object is the one that adapts the element to the target
analysis. Notice that in method Anm.elemLocStiffMtx the call
to method Elem.flexuralStiffCoeff_XY is generic, working for
Navier or Timoshenko elements. This is an example of
polymorphism in the current OOP implementation.
Another example of polymorphism is in the method Elem.
gblStiffMtx. This method is used to rotate an element stiffness
matrix from its local system to the global system, as indicated
below. The call to method Anm.elemLocStiffMtx is also
generic, and the actual method that is called is the one
associated to the target analysis model.
The output of the analysis results provided by the program
for the example of Figure 17 is given below.
The class organization also makes the code become well
modulated, allowing its easy modification and expansion. For
example, to create a new analysis model, or a new element
type, it is just needed to inherit a subclass from the Anm class,
or from the Elem and Lelem classes. These new subclasses
must implement the abstract methods to deal with the specific
behavior of the analysis model or element created.
7 | EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGY
This article describes the organization of classes and methods,
in the context of OOP, of a program developed in the
MATLAB environment for linear-elastic analysis of linear
elements structures. Although the program has a guided and
active user interface, the objective of this work is to describe
only the analysis module of the program. Another article is
being prepared by the authors to describe the use of the
program as a complete educational graphics tool. In this
14
| RANGEL AND MARTHA

FIGURE 14 UML sequence diagram of the assembly of the global stiffness matrix

sense, the educational tool described in this article serves to

uncover the steps of an analysis of structures by the direct
stiffness method in an organized and well documented way.
The main point here is that working in the source code level
allows students to really assimilate a computer-based method.
With this objective in mind, the program was used for
two semesters in the discipline of analysis of statically
indeterminate structures of the Civil Engineering course of
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
(PUC-Rio). The educational methodology adopted was
to provide the complete structure of the classes of the
program's source code, but incompletely presenting the
contents of the methods, so that the students could fill in
the gaps, as individual works. For example, the source
code shown in the previous section of the methods Elem.
axialStiffCoeff, Elem_Navier.flexuralStiffCoeff_XY, and
Anm_Frame2D.elemLocStiffMtx would be provided to
the students as follows:

A typical assignment to the students would be to ask them to

study the theory related to the creation and assemblage of the
RANGEL AND MARTHA
FIGURE 15 UML sequence diagram of the assembly of the global forcing vector
stiffness matrix of a two-dimensional frame member in its local
system and to complete the source code of these methods.
Several assignments of these types were proposed during
a course semester, covering the entire analysis module of
LESM program. Written exams would also cross-evaluate
aspects of the direct stiffness method and its implementation.
In PUC-Rio all disciplines are evaluated by the students at
the end of each semester. The feedback provided by the
students of the two semesters of the present structural analysis
| 15
class was very positive. A student made a report that
summarizes the success of the adopted methodology: “I
appreciated the methodology used in the structural analysis
course. Through the computational implementation it was
possible to really understand the method of structure analysis
employed. If it had been asked to implement the program
from a blank page it would have been almost impossible for a
normal civil engineering student to complete it. On the other
hand, the organization of the code provided by the
16
| RANGEL
FIGURE 16 UML sequence diagram of the computation of internal forces
FIGURE 17 2D frame model and its input data file
object-oriented programming, coupled with high-level pro-
gramming in MATLAB, greatly aided the learning process.”
8 | CONCLUSIONS
A common scenario in practice is analyzing a structure using
closed commercial programs. These programs generally offer
a variety of element formulations and analysis models, such
as bars, beams, plates, shells, axisymmetric solids, general 3D
solids, and so on. When a user chooses an element type and
analysis model, he or she is automatically accepting their
mathematical formulation and their simplifying assumptions.
In an ideal scenario, users should formulate the problem and
write a program. However, this approach requires high
technical knowledge, and programming experience.
The purpose of this work, is to have an open, well-
documented, and easily extended program available. A typical
user is an engineering student, or a professional who has little
AND MARTHA
knowledge of computer implementation. The ease of extend-
ing the LESM code allows a normal user to, not only use the
program, but also to implement new procedures or other types
of elements and analysis models with relative simplicity.
To achieve this goal, the MATLAB platform with the
OOP paradigm proved to be an appropriate approach. The
OOP paradigm provides an intrinsic incremental nature of the
development of a structural analysis system, as new features
can be easily incorporated in the system. Moreover, the use of
OOP leads to a more close integration between the matrix
structural analysis theory and the computer implementation,
improving the program understandability and easing the
system documentation.
One contribution of this paper is the proposed OOP class
organization. Some classes may be obvious in the context of
matrix structural analysis (i.e., classes for material, element,
cross-section, or node). However, dealing with different types of
structure models in a generic fashion led to the definition of an
important class of the LESM program: the Analysis Model
(Anm) class. This class is responsible for generically handling the
different aspects of 2D and 3D trusses, 2D and 3D frames, and
grillage models, which are treated by each subclass of class Anm.
Flexural behavior of beam elements was also treated
generically with the introduction of some auxiliary parameters,
in the LESM source code, that unifies the expressions for shape
functions, stiffness coefficients, and fixed-end-forces of Euler-
Bernoulli and Timoshenko theories. Although, with this
unification, there is no need to separate mechanical and
loading behaviors for the two bending theories, in LESM
distinct classes were adopted for the sake of emphasizing the
symmetry between the expressions from both theories.
Another important component is the source code
documentation of LESM, which is based on formal software
engineering design: the UML pattern. This is complemented
with the documentation files generated by command Publish
of MATLAB, which is available in the LESM website.
RANGEL AND MARTHA
| 17

Possible future developments include the extension of the ΔT x → uniform temperature variation in the center of
analysis options, such as the consideration of physical and/or gravity of the element cross-section
geometric nonlinearity. When dealing with second-order ΔT y → transversal temperature gradient along the
analyzes, it is necessary to solve numerically a system of element y-axis (ΔT bottom  ΔT top )
non-linear equations by an appropriate method. In this case, a ΔT z → transversal temperature gradient along the
class responsible for the implementation of the numerical element z-axis (ΔT bottom  ΔT top )
solution algorithms of the system must be included. Therefore, V→ shear force
the class that drives the structural analysis (currently the Drv M→ bending moment
class) would be split into an algorithm class and a class ff elg → element fixed-end-force vector in local system
responsible for the data and general behavior of the model. f eai → element axial fixed-end-force component
f ef xy
i → element flexural fixed-end-force component in
xy-plane
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
f ef xz
i → element flexural fixed-end-force component in
The authors would like to thank the National Council for xz-plane
Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the ½kel → element stiffness matrix in local system
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC- keaij → element axial stiffness coefficient
Rio), and the PUC-Rio Technical-Scientific Software ketij → element torsional stiffness coefficient
xy
Development Institute (Tecgraf/PUC-Rio) for the financial kef ij → element flexural stiffness coefficient in xy-
support and for providing the necessary space and plane
resources used during the development of this work. The kef xz
ij → element flexural stiffness coefficient in xz-
authors are also grateful to former undergraduate student plane
and intern of Tecgraf/PUC-Rio, Murilo Felix Filho, who u0 → axial displacement of an element point
contributed to the development of the program source v0 → displacement transverse to the element y-axis
code. w0 → displacement transverse to the element z-axis
θ→ cross-section rotation about element z-axis
NOMENCLATURE from bending effect
ϕ→ cross-section rotation about element y-axis
from bending effect
½N  → shape function matrix
l→ element length
Ni →
u
axial displacement shape function
E→ material elasticity modulus
N vi → transversal displacement shape function in
G→ material shear modulus
local y-axis (xy-plane)
α→ material thermal expansion coefficient
N wi → transversal displacement shape function in
A→ cross-section area (Ax )
local z-axis (xz-plane)
As → cross-section effective shear area (Ay or Az )
εfx → normal deformation in axial direction from
I→ cross-section moment of inertia (I z or I y )
bending effect
Jt → cross-section torsional moment of inertia (I x )
γs → distortion from shear effect
Ω→ Timoshenko's basic parameter
σfx → normal stress in axial direction from bending
qx → axially distributed load on element
effect
qx0 → uniform component of axially distributed load
τxy → tangential stress from shear effect
qx1 → linear component of axially distributed load
c0 ,c1 ,c2 ,c3 → integration constants
qy → distributed load transverse to the element y-
axis
qy0 → uniform component of distributed load trans- ORCID
verse to the element y-axis
Luiz Fernando Martha http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5783-
qy1 → linear component of distributed load transverse
5151
to the element y-axis
qz → distributed load transverse to the element z-
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to the element z-axis Dissertation, City University of London
18
| RANGEL
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R. L. RANGEL is a master's student in
the Civil Engineering program of the
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio
de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil. In his
thesis, he carries a research on the
implementation of geometrically
nonlinear structural analysis of fram-
ed models. He received his under-
graduate degree in Civil Engineering from PUC-Rio in
2016, when he developed the LESM program for struct-
ural analysis of linear elements. He is also member of the
Modeling and Visualization in Engineering and Geology
(MVGEO) group of the Tecgraf Institute of Technical-
Scientific Software Development of PUC-Rio (Tecgraf/
PUC-Rio).
L. F. MARTHA is an associate profes-
sor in Civil Engineering at Pontifical
Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
(PUC-Rio), Brazil, and member of the
Tecgraf Institute of Technical-Scien-
tific Software Development of PUC-
Rio (Tecgraf/PUC-Rio). He got his
PhD degree in Structural Engineering
in 1989 from Cornell University, working in the Cornell
Fracture Group and in the Cornell Program of Computer
RANGEL AND MARTHA
Graphics. His research interests include structural analy-
sis, computational mechanics, educational software, mesh
generation, geometric modeling, and computer graphics.
He is author of two text books related to structural analysis
and has published several articles in congresses and peer
review journals.
| 19
How to cite this article: Rangel RL, Martha LF.
LESM—An object-oriented MATLAB program for
structural analysis of linear element models. Comput
Appl Eng Educ. 2019;1–19.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.22097