Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

TRUSS PROBLEM
Q.1:A four bar truss element is shown in figure. Determine the following;

a) Nodal displacements
b) Stress in each element
c) Reaction at supports

(Given: E = 29.5MPA, A = 1m2)

Solution:

Step 1: Nodal coordinate data

Node X Y
1 900 0
2 500 300
3 0 300

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Step 2: Elemental nodal connectivity and calculation ofthe direction

cosines ‘l’&‘m’

Element Initial Final Ae Ee 5

le l m l2 m2 lm × 10
no. Node Node le

50
1 1 2 -0.8 0 0.64 0 0 0.8
0
50
2 2 3 -1 1 1 1 1 0.8
0

Calculation of l:

x final−¿x
l= initial
¿
le

Calculation of m:

y final−¿ y
m= initial
¿
le

Similarly, the values of ‘l’&‘m’ are calculated for all the other elements.

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

Step 3: Element stiffness matrix

The element stiffness matrix for a truss element is given by,

l2 lm −l 2 −lm
K=
A e E e lm

[ m2 −lm −m2
l e −l 2 −lm
−lm −m2
l 2 lm
lm m2
]
0.64 −0.48 −64 0 .48
K1= 0.8 × 105
−0
[
.48 0.36 0 .48 −0 .36
−0.64 0.48 0.64 −0 .48
0 .48 −0.36 −0 .48 0 .36
]
8 0 −8 0
K2 = 0.8× 105
0
−8
0
[ 0
0
0
0 0
8 0
0 0
]
Step 4: Global stiffness matrix and Governing equation

We have the global stiffness matrix K as,

[K] = [K1] + [K2]

5.12 -3.84 -5.12 3.84 0 0

-3.84 2.88 3.84 -2.88 0 0

-5.12 3.84 13.12 -3.84 -8 0

29.5× 106
K =
600 3.84 -2.88 -3.84 2.88 0 0

0 0 -8 0 8 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

F1 u1

{} {}
F2 v1
F3 u2
F4 v2
=10
F5 u3
F6 v3
F7 u4
F8 v4

By using elimination method for the equilibrium equation [K] {Q} = {F}, we get,

105[ 13.12−3.84 ]
−3.84 2.88 Q {Q
}
= { 0
−12000 }

Thus we get the nodal displacements as,

{QQ } = {−.683
−0.2
}
Step 5: Stresses and strains

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

u1 0
σ1 =
E1 A 1
l1
v1
2
v2
{}
[-l –m l m] u =
2× 10
500
5
[0.8 -0.6 -0.8 0.6]
0
−0.2
−0.683
{ }
= -99.992 Mpa

Similarly, the remaining stresses are calculated as,

σ 2 = -80 Mpa

Step 6: Reaction forces

R1 = -1598.72 N

R2 = -11990.40 N

R5= 16000 N

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

ANSYS ANALYSIS

Steps to solve in Ansys:

1. Ansys main menu  Preferences  Structural  OK.

2. Preprocessor  Element type  Add/Edit/Delete  Add  Select element
“link”  2D spar1  OK  Close.
3. Ansys main menu  Preprocessor  Real constants  Add/Edit/Delete  Add
 OK  Enter real constantset number as “1” and enter the cross-sectional area
as 1m2 OK.
4. Ansys main menu  Preprocessor  Material properties  Material models 
By sequence number  Structural  Linear  Elastic  Isotropic and enter “E
= 29.5e6”  OK  Close.
5. Ansys main menu  Preprocessor  Modeling  Create  Nodes  In active
CS  Enter the node number as “1” and its x,y,z coordinates as (0, 0, 0)  Apply
 Enter the node number as “2” and its x,y,z coordinates as (40, 0, 0) Apply
Enter the node number as “3” and its x,y,z coordinates as (40, 30, 0) Apply
 Enter the node number as “4” and its x,y,z coordinates as (0, 30, 0) OK.
6. Ansys main menu  Preprocessor  Modeling  Create  Elements Element
attributes  In element attribute window,set material no. as 1 and real constant set
no. 1 OK. Autonumbered  Through nodes  Select nodes 1 and 2  OK. In
element attribute window, set material no. as 1 and real constant set no. 2  OK
 Autonumbered  Through nodes  Select nodes 2 and 3  OK. In element
attribute window, set material no. as 1 and real constant set no. 3 OK.
Autonumbered  Through nodes Select nodes 3 and 1  OK In element
attribute window, set material no. as 1 and real constant set no. 4 OK.
Autonumbered  Through nodes  Select nodes 3 and 4  OK.
7. Ansys main menu  Solution Define load  Apply  Structural 
Displacement  On nodes  Select node no.1  Apply  All DOF. Select node
no. 4  Apply  All DOF Apply. Select node no.2  Apply  UY OK.
8. Ansys main menu  Solution Define load  Apply  Structural 
Force/Moment  On nodes  Select node no.2  OK  Select FX Enter the
value as 20,000  OK. Select node no.3  OK  Select FY Enter the value as
-25,000  OK.

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

9. Ansys main menu  Solution  Solve  Current LS  OK.

10. Ansys main menu  General postprocessor  Element table  Define table 
Add in the element table item  Select by sequence number  Select “LS,”
Enter the value “LS, 1” OK  Close.
11. Ansys main menu  General postprocessor  Plot results  Contour plot 
Line element res  Select “LS,1” for nodes i & j respectively  OK The line
stress diagram will be displayed.
12. Ansys main menu  General postprocessor  List results  Nodal solution 
DOF Solution  Displacement vector sum  OK.
13. Ansys main menu  General postprocessor  List results  Reaction solution
OK.

Stress distribution:

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

Reaction forces:

Nodal displacements:

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering (PG)

RESULTS COMPARISON

Node no. 1 2 3 4
ANALYTICAL RESULTS

Stressesσin kPa σ1 = 20.001 σ2 = -21.88 σ3 = -5.209 σ4 = 4.17

Displacement u1= 0 u2 = 0.2712 u3= 0.0056498 u4 =0
ux
s
in m uy v1= 0 v2= 0 v3 = -0.02225 v4= 0

Reactions R1 =-15.83 R3 = 0 R5 = 0 R7 = -4.17

Rx
in kN Ry R2 = 3.1179 R4 = 22.02 R6 = 0 R8 = 0
Stressesσin kPa σ1 = 20.000 σ2 = -21.875 σ3 = -5.2083 σ4 = 4.1667
Displacement ux
u1 = 0 u2 = 0.27119E-4 u3= 0.56497E-05 u4 = 0
ANSYSRESULTS

s
in m uy v1 = 0 v2 = 0 v3 = 0.2246E-04 v4 = 0

R1 = -15833 R3 = 0 R5 = 0 R7 = -4166.7
Rx
Reactions
in kN
Ry R2 = 3125 R4 = 21875 R6 = 0 R8 = 0