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BEAMS
A finite element program for calculating bending stress and displacement in
beams subject to point loads.

Basics
 Beam structures are broken up into elements, the beam elements used by
this program are flexible, and therefore increasing the number of
elements does not improve accuracy. However the program is currently
set up to calculate up to 100 elements.
 Elements are joined together by nodes.
 Constraints are applied to nodes to fix the beam. A built in beam will
have its end node constrained from both displacement and rotation. A
beam with a point support will have its node constrained against
displacement only
 Point loads can only be applied to nodes. Uniformly distributed loads
must be represented a series of point loads; this may require more
elements to model this type of load accurately. The program will, if
required, automatically apply a given uniformly distributed load or
pressure load across the entire beam.
 The displacement of the beam caused by bending is calculated at each
node point.
 Bending stresses can only be calculated in the middle of elements.
However a good approximation of the stress at a node point can be
obtained by using a very small adjoining element.

Using the program

1. Enter beam details on the ‘Beam Modeller’ sheet
2. Click the compile button. This copies the data on to the ‘Data
File’ sheet.
3. Click the ‘Run’ button on the ‘Data file’ sheet to run the
program
4. The calculated results appear below the data and a separate data
file is created called ‘Beamsdat.txt’, which is saved in the ‘C:’
directory.

Example:- Cantilever Beam

Point Load = 1 KN
Length = 50mm
Second Moment Of Area I = 20000 mm4
Maximum distance From the Neutral Axis to the
surface of the beam Ybar = 50mm

Therefore Stress at Support = 125 N/mm 2

FE Model
1000 N
Nodes 1 2 3

Element 1 Element 2
Constraints
0.001mm 49.99mm

Enter Data in the ‘Data Modeller Sheet’

 Enter number of elements

 Node and element numbers are in column F . The left hand side of this column is node
properties and the right hand side is element properties. (Note the number of nodes = number
of elements + 1)

 Enter distance along the beam, the first node is 0, the next node is 0.001 and the third node
50. (Note the maximum stress will be a node 1, therefore to evaluate the stress at this point
element one must be small.)

 Enter a one in the constraints column for Displacement and a one in the column for rotation
for node 1. (Note 1 denotes a constraint, a blank cell no constraint.)

 Enter 1000 N force, in force column for node 3

 Enter Young’s modulus E, Second Moment of area Ybar, and I, for element 2 only.

 Note; Any element property cell left blank will assume the value of the next cell below that
contains data. Values can be changed for each element if required, but no account is taken of
the stress concentration effect caused by discontinuities in the beam.

 Young’s Modulus can be set to 1 if beam displacements are not required.

Click the compile button; this transfers the data to the next form. If the data looks OK, click the run
button.

Uniformly Distribute Loads

The program will apply a UDL to the whole Beam. However the UDL on half of each element
adjoining a constraint is ignored. Therefore for optimum accuracy small elements are recommended
on either side of constraints.

Tools Sheet
Reducing Model Size
It is very rare that an FE model is made of a complete object; most models are constructed so that they
only consider the area of interest. However the constraint applied to the area of interest by the main
object have to be known or accurately assumed.

Consider a simply supported beam with a point load in the centre. The rotation of this beam in the
middle changes from positive to negative; at its exact mid point the rotation is theoretically zero.
Therefore this beam can be represented by two cantilever beams, simply supported at one end and
constrained against rotation at the other, thus reducing the size of the FE model.

Force Force
Force 2 2

=
+
L L/2
Number Of Elements = 10 UDL= 0
Number Of Nodes = 11
Constraints Forces Node Node/Element Element Properties
Disp Rot Force Mom Distance Number E I Y
1 0 1 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
122.5 2 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
245 3 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
367.5 4 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
490 5 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
1000000 500 6 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
510 7 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
632.5 8 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
755 9 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
877.5 10 2.00E+05 4.62E+08 347.5
1 0 1000 11
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Notes
Node Data: Left Of Column F
Element Data : Right Of Column F
Number Of Nodes = Number Of Elements + 1

Constraints Must = 1, 0 or Blank, (1 = Applied 0 or Blank = Not Applied)

UDL: Uniformly Distributed Load = Force per Unit Distance
UDL: Is proportionally applied to all nodes
All Element Properties Must Be Stated for the last element

The last Node Diastance Must Be stated

Any Node distances left blank will be calculated Automaticaly

Loads must not be apllied on constrained Nodes

#DIV/0!
61312.5
BEAM FINITE ELEMENT PROGRAM (USING MATRIX DISPACEMENT)

Number of Elements = 10.00

Number of Nodes = 11.00

Constraints
Node Number Displacement Rotation
1.00 1.00 0.00
11.00 1.00 0.00

Element Properties
Element Number Length I E Ybar
1.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
2.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
3.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
4.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
5.00 10.00 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
6.00 10.00 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
7.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
8.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
9.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50
10.00 122.50 462000000.00 200000.00 347.50

Forces
Node Number Force Moment
6.00 1000000.00

RESULTS
Element Number Length Stress Moment Displacement
Second Moment Of Area Calculator

b Establish a datum Point

Break object into individual components
Maximum of 4 components can be calculated
d YELLOW cells are for data input

Datum

b = Width of Component
d = depth of component
y = Distance from centre of component to Datum Point

Maximum Depth Of Section = 520

Section 1 I Area Area *YBar

b= 300 d= 20 y= 510 200000 6000 3060000

Section 2
b= 20 d= 500 y= 250 2.08E+08 10000 2500000

Section 3
b= d= y= 0 0 0

Section 4
b= d= y= 0 0 0

Totals 16000 5560000

From Datum Point Y Bar = 347.5

Maximum Ybar = 347.5 For Beam Calculations

I xx = 4.62E+08