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Hayat
Friday, March 5, 2021 View my complete profile

Exploring FEM procedure by manually solving an Example Blog Archive

March 2021 (4)

While performing a simulation task using any in-house developed, an open source or a February 2021 (3)
commercial FEM software package, we have to follow these standard steps: (1)
discretize the domain, (2) select an appropriate element type depending on the nature
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of the problem or develop it if not available, and assign this element model to the
discretized domain, (3) assemble the elements, (4) apply the relevant load and Approximate Solution
boundary conditions, (5) solve for unknown primary or state variables, and (6) finally CAE
compute the secondary or dependent variables if required. Another terminology often Coordinate Transformation
used by the FEM community to describe the above steps in a more brief manner is the
Degrees of Freedom
pre-process (i.e. step # 1 to 4), the solution (step # 5) and the post-process (step # 6).
Discretization

In this article, we will be learning how a FEM simulation is conducted behind the curtain Discretization Error
of GUI (Graphical User Interface) of a FEM software package. For this purpose, a Element Assembly
simple structure problem shown in Figure 1 is selected. We will be solving this problem Element Assignment
through FEM and all relevant steps involved will be performed manually to get a deeper Element Connectivety Table
insight of this amazing yet a powerful method. This learning journey will be a bit Element Geometry
intensive but it will finally pay you off if you show patience. Element Model
element Response
Problem Statement Element Type
So here is the problem, we want to solve with the FEM. It is a simple bar with cross- Exact Solution
section A(x) varying along its length L, fixed at its left end and subject to an axial load P FEA
at its right end, as shown in Figure 1. The bar is made of an isotropic material having FEM
Young’s modulus E. We want to compute the displacement u at the free end. Load & BCs
Meshing
Modelling Error
Numerical Error
Postprocess
Preprocess
Solution
Source of Errors

Figure 1. An axially loaded bar

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Here is the so-called “governing differential equation” of problem along with the relevant
boundary conditions. Search This Blog
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Even though if someone is very good at solving differential equations, still, there is a
slim chance to find an exact solution at the first attempt. Majority of us are not proficient
at solving differential equations, that’s why, we want to solve this problem with a simple
yet generalized way i.e. FEM. You will see in the following why it is so convenient to
solve problem using FEM.

Finding Approximate Solution using FEM

Step # 1 Discretization
The first step in performing FE analysis involved the decomposition of the geometry of
the problem (i.e. continuous domain) into simpler parts (i.e. subdomains). This process
is also called meshing. Generally, all FEM software provide various mesh control
options to discretize the geometry automatically or manually depending on our needs.
We can also mesh the geometry outside of a FEM software or use another a software
dedicated to meshing only, and import the meshed model into the FEM environment.

For the problem on hand, we will mesh the axially loaded bar into two subdomains. We
can further increase the discretization, and it will surely increase the accuracy of our
approximate solution, however, we limit ourselves to two subdomains only for a very
good reason. And that is we will be performing the procedure of FEM manually. So here
is how the discretized model looks like (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Discretization of domain (i.e. Step # 1)

Please have a closer look at Figure 2, each subdomain has a constant cross-section.
For these prismatic subdomains we already have simple solutions with which we are
very much familiar in mechanics of materials course. In FEM, we are now trying to use
these simple solutions for constant cross-sections, to approximate the problem with a
varying cross-section along its length.

Please also note that in the above problem, we are interested in the displacement in the
x-direction only, so it is 1D problem. Besides, we are using a global coordinate system
for the discretized model on hand. It is named so because complete system is built
using this coordinate system.

Step # 2 Develop Element Model and Assign to Discretized Domain

In this step, we have to develop an element model based on the nature of problem
under investigation. In our case, the axially loaded bar behaves just like a spring. The
bar deforms when loaded, and upon removal of load, it returns to its initial undeform
shape.

There are numerous ways for driving an element model e.g. direct formulation,
minimum total potential energy method, weighted residual method etc. Below Figure 3
shows the derivation of the element model through direct formulation method as the
element stiffness matrix is derived using simple formulae of mechanics of materials. So,
we model a linear spring element with two nodes. The mathematical model of a m
spring element having local nodes i,j is shown below in Figure 3. The derived element
model is based on a local/element coordinate system.

Figure 3. A spring element model

The next Figure 4 shows the derivation of the spring element model. Since, our focus
here in not on exploring these ways of driving element model, rather than learning FEM
general procedure, so we leave this discussion to another day.
 Figure 4. Derivation of a spring element model.

Note that being users of a FEM software, generally we do not need to develop these
element models. We have to just select an appropriate element type from the element
library of the software which contains a plenty of element covering various engineering
fields. The software developers have already derived and implemented these element
models.

Once we developed our element model or select an element type from the element
library of the software, then, we have to assign that element model to the discretized
domain. Depending on the requirement of the problem, there can be more than one
element type that can be assigned to various portion of the domain, but, one portion of
the domain cannot be simultaneously assigned more than one element type.

In our case, we have discretized the domain into two subdomains, and each of
subdomain is assigned a linear spring element with two nodes as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Assignment of element type/model to the discretized domain.

Before we move ahead, it is very important to remember that the element model we
developed or element type we select from the element library of the software, is built on
the local/element coordinate system. For distinction, we write the local node numbers of
element in the braces. On the contrary, the discretized model is built on the basis of
global coordinate system, and therefore, we write the global node numbers of the
discretized model in circle to make a clear distinction.

We do we need to make above distinction? Because the element model is built in

local/element coordinate system. When we assigned the elements to the discretized
model built in global coordinate system, we have to transform the relevant attributes of
the element from local to global coordinate system.

Step # 3 Assembly of elements

The next step involved in a general procedure of FEM, is to assemble the elements
which were previously assigned to the discretized domain. In doing so, we need to map
the local node numbers of the elements to the global node numbers in the system. This
is done in the form of an element connective table as shown n Figure 6. The first
column of the table lists the element number of elements in the discretized domain. The
next columns list the global node numbers and corresponding local node numbers for
each element.

Table 1. Element connectivity table

Before, we start to assemble the elements, an empty global stiffness matrix, a global
displacement vector and a global load vector, each populated with zero values, is
constructed. The size of the global matrix and the global vectors is based on the
number of global nodes (i.e. 3 in our case) and number of degrees of freedom per node
(i.e. 1 in our case), and is determined as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Sizing of global stiffness matrix and global vectors.

With the help element connectivity table, we transform the local stiffness matrix of each
element to corresponding global stiffness matrix. After the completion of this operation,
we add the elements of global stiffness matrix of each element to get the global
stiffness matrix of the system, as shown in Figure 7. Likewise, we construct the global
nodal displacement vector and the global nodal force vector.

Figure 7. Assembly of elements

Here is the final form as shown in Figure 8, the assembled elements in the form of a set
of simultaneous algebraic equations, and computers are very very good at solving such
system of equations without getting bored.

Figure 8. System global stiffness matrix, nodal displacement vector and nodal force vectors.
Step # 4 & 5 Apply load & boundary conditions and Solve for unknown
Primary variables
Before we proceed further we need to apply the load and boundary conditions. There is
a tip load at global node number 3. The displacement of global nodal number 1 is zero
as this node is fixed boundary condition. There is no external force on global node
number 2, so it will have net zero nodal force, as shown in the upper portion of Figure 9.

After the application of load and boundary conditions, the set of simultaneous equations
is solved for unknown primary variables i.e. displacement dof at each node. The
computer solve the set of simultaneous equation of the form Ax = b, by inverting the
matrix A and multiplying it to vector b. To inverse a matrix, it should be not a singular
matrix because a singular matrix cannot be inverted.

Figure 9. Application of load and boundary conditions, and solve for unknown primary variables.
Step # 6 Compute Dependent or Secondary Variables
The last step is an optional post-processing step. It includes result visualization, data
plotting, or computation of the secondary variables from the primary variables etc. The
example of computed secondary variables in the current problem could be the strains
which can then be converted into stresses using the constitutive relationship at the
element level, as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10. Compute dependent or secondary variables.

About the Author: Dr. Khazar Hayat is a professional engineer with almost 15+ year of
experience in research, design, analysis and development of products made of fiber reinforced
plas cs composites (FRPCs). Currently, he is working as an Associate Professor at Mechanical
Engineering Department, The University of Lahore, Pakistan, can be reaching by emailing at
khazarhayat@gmail.com.

at March 05, 2021 1 comment:

Labels: Discretization, Element Assembly, Element Assignment, Element Model, FEM, Load & BCs, Meshing,
Postprocess, Preprocess, Solution

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