ASSIGNMENT 6

CONSTANT STRAIN TRIANGULAR

AE5030 Advanced Finite Element Method

By:

Budi Aji Warsiyanto 23620014

Lecturer:

Dr. Ir. Muhamad Giri Suada

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING STUDY PROGRAM

FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

BANDUNG INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

2020
1. PROBLEM
a. Obtain the vertical displacement at node 3 of the one-element constant triangular structure shown in
Figure 1-1. The structure is assumed as a plane stress condition (thin structure). The triangular
structure has the same length (1400 mm) on each side and a constant thickness of 2 mm. It is
supported at the base as shown in the figure. Also, E = 10,000 N/mm2 and 𝜈 = 0.3.

10,000 N

1 2

Figure 1-1. A structure using the two-dimensional triangular element with 1-element and 3-node

b. In this section, the material property is the same as the above problem such as thickness, modulus
elasticity, and Poisson's ratio. Obtain the vertical displacement at node 6 of the one-element constant
triangular structure shown in Figure 1-2. The structure is assumed as a plane stress condition (thin
structure). The triangular structure has the same length (1400 mm) on each side and a constant
thickness of 2 mm.

10,000 N

4 5

3
1
2

Figure 1-2 A structure using the two-dimensional triangular element with 4-element and 6-node

2. SOLUTION
To solve this problem, the structure can be modeled by membrane elements or two-dimensional
elements. This assignment uses a membrane element that is modeled as a constant strain triangle (CST).
For problem [a], the structure is divided into 1-element with 3-node, while for the problem [b], the structure
is divided into 4-element with 6-node.

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 The Abaqus application is used as a finite element (numeric) solution to solve the problem in the
CST element above. The process using the finite element method is divided into three, namely pre-
processing, solution, and post-processing. Several modules are used to set up numerical modeling of CST
elements. The following shows the module used to perform numerical modeling:
a. Part
In this module, the structural model is created with the same length 𝐿, namely 1400 mm on each side
as shown in Figure 2-1. Figures 2-1 (a) and (b) show the different elements in the CST structure,
namely 1-element with 3-node and 4-element with 6-node. The objective of this assignment is to
determine the effect of different mesh configurations on the deformation value at the node where the
load is located (node 3 for 1-element and node 6 for 4-element).

(a)

(b)
Figure 2-1. The difference of element numbers in CST structures: (a) 1-element with 3-node and (b)
4-element with 6-node

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b. Property
The modulus of elasticity (Young’s modulus), Poisson's ratio, and thickness of the structure are
inputted on this module as shown in Figures 2-2 (a) and (b).

(a)

(b)
Figure 2-2. Set up of material properties of the membrane element: (a) Young’s modulus & Poisson's
ratio and (b) thickness

c. Step
In this assignment, the static simulation type linear perturbation is used because the force 𝑃 given
has a constant value by time and the problem is still in the scope of linear analysis. Figure 2-3 shows
the set up in this module. "Nlgeom: Off" is chosen because the structure does not experience large
displacement during loading.

Figure 2-3. Set up in the module step

d. Load
Figure 2-4 (a) shows the CST element that has applied boundary conditions and loads. Figures 2-4
(b) and (c) show the boundary condition and load setup.

Roller BC
Pinned BC

(a)

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 (b)

(c)
Figure 2-4. Set up on "Module Load": (a) illustration of the CST element that has applied boundary
conditions & load, (b) boundary conditions, and (c) load

e. Mesh
The mesh configuration of the CST structure is shown in Figure 2-5 (a) and (b). The element type
of CST structure is M3D3 (a 3-node triangular membrane) as shown in Figure 2-6 because the model
is a membrane element with constant strain triangular. In addition, geometric order is linear (order 1 in
Pascal’s triangle) because the distribution of the displacement of each node and element in the CST
structure is modeled by linear equations so that the resulting strain is constant (strain is the first
derivative of displacement). It should be noted that labels in each node in the finite element model are
different from those in Section 1 because the labeling of finite elements is generated by default so that
users cannot adjust labels for each node.

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 element

node

(a)

(b)
Figure 2-5. The mesh configuration for CST structure with (a) 1-element 3-node and (b) 4-element 6-
node.

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 Figure 2-6. Element type for CST structure set up

2.1.1 Results
The simulation results are displayed in the form deformation, namely the resultant (Magnitude) and
its components (U1 and U2). First, the deformation was observed in the CST structure 1-element with 3-
node mesh configurations as shown in Figures 2-7 (a), (b), and (c). It can be seen that at node 3 (the load
location is as described in Section 1) there is a maximum deformation of 150.00E-03 (0.15) mm in the 𝑥-
negative direction and 866.03E-03 (0.866) mm in the 𝑦-positive direction so that resulting resultant 878.92
E-03 (0.879) mm. The positive and negative signs indicate the direction of deformation, while the color
gradient shows the size of the deformation.
Second, the maximum deformation values were observed in the CST structure with a 4-element and
6-node mesh configuration as shown in Figures 2-8 (a), (b), and (c). It can be seen that at node 6 (the
location of the load is as described in Section 1) the maximum deformation occurs 316.76E-03 (0.317) mm
in the 𝑥-negative direction and 1.73E+00 (1.73) mm in the positive 𝑦-direction so that resulting resultant
1.76E+00 (1.76) mm.
The deformation values for the two mesh configurations are summarized in Table 1. It can be seen
that more nodes and elements result in greater deformation because the triangular structure (plane) has non-
linear flexural properties. In theory, more nodes or elements will increase the accuracy or provide
convergence results of the finite element method analysis results. In the CST structure, the displacement
distribution of each node and element is modeled by linear equations so that the resulting strain is constant
because the strain is the first derivative of displacement. To prove that the more nodes or elements will
increase the accuracy or provide convergence results, Table 1 show the deformation values for the greater
mesh configurations.

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 (a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 2-7. Deformation of CST structure with mesh configuration 1-element and 3-node in: (a) x-
direction, (b) y-direction, and (c) resultant

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 (a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 2-8. Deformation of CST structure with mesh configuration 4-element and 6-node in: (a) x-
direction, (b) y-direction, and (c) resultant

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Table 1. Comparison of deformation based on the difference of the number of elements and nodes
Deformation (mm)
Mesh Configuration
𝒙-direction 𝒚-direction Resultant
1-element and 3-node 0.150 0.866 0.879
4-element and 6-node 0.317 1.73 1.76
9-element and 10-node 0.551 2.48 2.54
16-element and 15-node 0.779 3.1 3.2
25-element and 21-node 0.979 3.62 3.75