3.

Basic concepts of FEM: solution of 1-D bar problem

Table of contents

3.1 Basic concepts : mesh, nodes, elements, interpolation, ...

3.2 FEA of axially loaded bar
3.3 Notes : direct method, higher-
3.4 Principle of Virtual Work (PVW) approach
3.5 Galerkin Weighted Residual (GWR) method
3.6 Implementation issues

3. 1
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 3.1 Basic concepts
• The FEM is similar the RRM, but
23312
– the basis functions are easy to find : interpolation
– the qi have a physical significance : nodal displacements

• Basic idea
LEEKE
– Discretize the domain with a finite element mesh composed of nodes and
elements
NODE

ELEMENT

IE be
– Compute the “best values” of the nodal displacements (based, for example, on the
PMPE)
FATE
– Use interpolation to find the solution everywhere else in the discretized domain
• There are many elements of different types and geometries : 1-D, 2-D, 3-D, plane
stress, plane strain, plates, shells, structural, thermal, fluid mechanics, electromagnetic,
elastic, plastic, static, dynamic, …

3. 2
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 3.2 FEA of axially loaded bar
In this section, we introduce the 6 basic steps of a FEA by solving the following simple
structural problem

po (N/m)
x

0 Constant L
Stiffness E
Cross-section A(x)=Ao(1-x/aL) with a > 1
(we will take a=10)
Exact solution d x du
GDE: EAo 1 po for 0 x L
dx aL dx
u0 0 his axial displacement at axialdirection
BC : du
EA L 0
dx L
x x
EAo uex x po L2 a a 2 a ln 1
L aL
Solution : x
duex po L 1
x E L
Ao 1 x
ex
dx
aL
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Finite element solution
We will use the PMPE. The total potential energy for this problem is

L 2 L
1 du
U V EA dx p o u x dx
20 dx 0

Every FEA consists of 6 steps

Step 1 : Discretization

Let’s choose 3 elements of equal length with constant cross-section

(computed at element center: x=L/6, x=L/2 and x=5L/6)

L/3 L/3 L/3 4 nodes

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 3 elements

59Ao 57Ao 55Ao

E, E, E,
60 60 60
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Step 2 : Property of an individual (generic) element

Let’s look at a generic 2-node element of length l, stiffness E and constant cross-section A

The basic idea of the FEM is to write the approximate displacement u s in an element as the
interpolation between the (so far unknown) nodal values Ua and Ub

For a two-node element, the interpolation is linear

Na l E Nb
s s
us Ua 1 Ub U a Na s U b Nb s
l l
Ni (s j ) ij

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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Na(s) and Nb(s) play an important role in FEA and are called interpolation or shape
functions

Since we have the approximate expression of u(s) u (s) on the generic element, we can
compute the (approximate) contribution of the element to the total potential energy
2
e e 1l du l
EA ds po u s ds o
20 ds 0

but us Ua Na s U b Nb s
du s dNa s dN b s
thus Ua Ub
ds ds ds

l 2 l
~e 1 dN a dN b
EA U a Ub ds po U a N a s U b N b s ds
20 ds ds 0

3. 6
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Expand the square term :
2 2
e 1l 2 dN a dN a dNb 2 dNb l
EA Ua 2Ua Ub Ub ds p o U a Na s U b Nb s ds
20 ds ds ds ds 0

Put in a matrix form :

l 2 l l
dNa dN a dNb
EA ds EA ds po N a s ds
e 1 0 ds 0 ds ds Ua 0
Ua Ub Ua Ub
2 l
dNa dN b l
dNb 2 Ub l
EA ds EA ds po N b s ds
0 ds ds 0 ds 0

local stiffness matrix local load vector

[k] {r}
In short notation :

e 1 Ua
U a Ub k Ua Ub r
2 Ub

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Since we know that
s s
Na s 1 and Nb s
l l

we can compute [k] and {r}. For example,

l l
dN dNb 1 1 EA
00
k 12 k 21
0
EA a
ds ds
ds
0
EA
l l
ds
l
stiffness
Find

EA 1 1 1/ 2
k r po l
l 1 1 1/ 2

local stiffness matrix local load vector

3. 8
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Step 3 : Assemble the elements (i.e., put the pieces together)

Now that we know the properties of a generic element, we can go back to the global level

L/3 L/3 L/3 4 nodes

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 3 elements

The objective is to find the 4 nodal displacements D U1 U 2 U 3 U4

Once these are determined, we can use the shape functions to interpolate the displacement
field inside each element

3. 9
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Note : the approximate displacement solution u s is continuous within and between
elements
– why? Within an element
Between element
To solve for the nodal displacement vector {D}, we need a system of 4 equations.

These equations will be obtained through the PMPE for the whole structure.
The first thing we need to do is to write the (approximate) expression of the total potential
energy of the structure by adding the contribution of all three elements (using the result of Step 2).

Recall that, for a generic 2-node element of length l :

e 1 Ua
U a Ub k Ua Ub r
2 Ub
with
EA 1 1 1/ 2
k r po l
l 1 1 1/ 2
Objective : write the (approximate) total potential energy as
TOT e 1
D K D D R
e 2
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Let’s add the contribution of all three elements to the total potential energy
• Element #1 : l=L/3 a=1 b=2 A=59Ao/60

59EAo 59EAo po L
1 20L 20L U1 6
˜ (1) U1 U2 U1 U2
2 59EAo 59EAo U2 po L
20L 20L 6

Its contribution to the total

potential energy is :
59EAo 59EAo po L
0 0 U1
20L 20L 6
1 59EAo 59EAo U2 po L
˜ TOT U1 U 2 U 3 U 4 0 0 U1 U 2 U 3 U 4
2 20L 20L U3 6
0 0 0 0 0
U4
0 0 0 0 0

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 FEA of axially loaded bar
• Element #2 : l=L/3 a=2 b=3 A=57Ao/60
57EAo 57EAo po L
1 20L 20L U2 6
˜ (2) U2 U3 U2 U3
2 57EAo 57EAo U3 po L
20L 20L 6

Its contribution to the total

potential energy is :
59EAo 59EAo
0 0
20L 20L U1
59EAo 59EAo 57EAo 57EAo
˜ TOT 1 0 U2
U1 U2 U3 U4 20L 20L 20L 20L
2 57EAo 57EAo U3
0 0 U
20L 20L 4
0 0 0 0
po L
6
po L po L
U1 U2 U3 U4 6 6
po L
6
0

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 FEA of axially loaded bar
• Element #3 : l=L/3 a=3 b=4 A=55 Ao/60
55EAo 55EAo po L
1 20L 20L U3 6
˜ (3) U3 U4 U3 U4
2 55EAo 55EAo U4 po L
20L 20L 6

Its contribution to the total

potential energy is :
59EAo 59EAo
0 0
20L 20L U1
59EAo 59EAo 57EAo 57EAo
1 0 U2
˜ TOT U1 U2 U3 U4 20L 20L 20L 20L
2 57EAo 57EAo 55EAo 55EAo U3
0
20L 20L 20L 20L U4
55EAo 55EAo
0 0
20L 20L
po L
6
po L po L
U1 U2 U3 U4 6 6
po L po L
6 6
po L
6
3. 13
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
We have thus achieved our objective :

TOT1
D K D D R
2
where [K] is the GLOBAL STIFFNESS MATRIX
{R} is the GLOBAL LOAD VECTOR

Here
D U1 U2 U3 U4
59 59 0 0
EAo 59 116 57 0
K
20L 0 57 112 55
0 0 55 55
1/ 6
1/ 3
R po L
1/ 3
1/ 6

3. 14
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
At this point, we apply the PMPE by choosing the nodal displacements which minimize
the approximate total potential energy of the structure :
TOT TOT TOT TOT
0
U1 U2 U3 U4

or, in matrix form,

TOT
0
D
Since
TOT 1
D K D D R (*)
2

we get the linear system

K D R (**)

Note : in practice, one does not need to compute the total potential energy in (*): just go
directly to (**) by assembling [k] and {r} into [K] and {R}, respectively.

3. 15
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Step 4 : Apply load and displacement boundary conditions

First, we impose the nodal (concentrated) loads. In this case, we only have the reaction Ro
at the wall (node 1)
Ro
1 2 3 4

All the nodal loads are added to the global load vector {R}

59 59 0 0 U1 1/ 6 Ro
EAo 59 116 57 0 U2 1/ 3 0
po L
20L 0 57 112 55 U3 1/ 3 0
0 0 55 55 U4 1/ 6 0

Next, we apply the displacement boundary conditions. The linear system above is singular
(i.e., det[K]=0). To remove the singularity, we have to impose the fact that
U1 0
We can thus remove the first row and column from our 4*4 system and reduce it to a 3*3 system.

3. 16
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
The final form of the linear system is thus :
116 57 0 U2 1/ 3
EAo
57 112 55 U3 po L 1/ 3
20L
0 55 55 U4 1/ 6

Notes : - When the displacement b.c. are applied, the unknown reactions (here Ro) disappear
from the system

Step 5 : Solve the linear system

Find
U1 0
U2 po L2 0.28249
U3 EAo 0.45492
U4 0.51853

3. 17
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
Step 6 : Post-processing
In this step, we
• plot the deformed shape of the structure
• obtain the stresses and strains in each element
• compute the nodal reactions at the supports

1) Deformed shape

Using the nodal values and the

interpolation functions, we get :

Note: the nodal values are NOT exact!

3. 18
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
2) Axial stress and strain in each element

Let’s go back to the generic element :

Since we have used a linear interpolation between Ua and Ub, the approximate axial strain
is constant in the element

du s dNa dNb 1 1 1
xx Ua Ub Ua Ub U Ua
ds ds ds l l l b

Similarly, the approximate stress is also constant in the element

E
xx E xx Ub Ua
l

3. 19
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Let’s review the elements one by one and use the nodal displacements we just obtained in Step 5.

• Element #1 : l=L/3 a=1 b=2

po L2 E po L
Ua U1 0 Ub U2 0.28249 ˜ xx(1) U2 U1 0.84746
EAo L /3 Ao

• Element #2 : l=L/3 a=2 b=3

po L2 po L2 E po L
Ua U2 0.28249 Ub U3 0.45792 ˜ xx(2) U3 U2 0.52632
EAo EAo L /3 Ao

• Element #3 : l=L/3 a=3 b=4

po L2 po L2 E po L
Ua U3 0.45792 Ub U4 0.51853 ˜ xx(3) U4 U3 0.18182
EAo EAo L /3 Ao

3. 20
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 FEA of axially loaded bar

3. 21
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 FEA of axially loaded bar
3) Reactions at supports

Let’s reconsider the equation we deleted from the original system in Step 4 when we applied
the displacement boundary conditions:

59 59 0 0 U1 1/ 6 Ro
EAo 59 116 57 0 U2 1/ 3 0
po L
20L 0 57 112 55 U3 1/ 3 0
0 0 55 55 U4 1/ 6 0

Now that we know the nodal displacements, we can use that equation to solve for the unknown
reaction Ro. We find

1 59EAo po L2
Ro po L 0.28249 po L as expected!
6 20L EA

3. 22
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 3.3 Notes
Conclusions :
The finite element method
• is a special form of the RRM
• is based on the interpolation (using shape functions) of nodal displacement values
• contains 6 basic steps
1) discretization : mesh, nodes, elements
2) property of a generic element : local stiffness matrix [k] and load vector {r}
3) assembling : global load matrix [K] and load vector {R}
4) apply the load and displacement boundary conditions
5) solve the linear system [K] {D} = {R}
6) post-processing : deformed shape, element stresses and support reactions

Important notes :
1) What if we use more elements? (N of them)
The property of a generic 2-node element remains unchanged :
EA 1 1 1/ 2
k r pol
l 1 1 1/ 2

But now, we have • l=L/N

(N+1) unknown nodal displacements : U1, U2, …, UN+1
3. 23
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 N = 10

3. 24
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 N = 10

See discussion on convergence later

3. 25
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2) Why do we call [k] the element stiffness matrix?

To understand the physical significance of [k], let’s examine the behavior of a generic element
subjected to nodal forces

In the general case, Ua and Ub . We get:

Fa EA /l EA /l Ua Ua
k
Fb EA/ l EA /l Ub Ub

Thus [k] represents the stiffness of the element

[K] represents the stiffness of the whole structure

This is called the DIRECT METHOD to derive the local stiffness matrix

3. 26
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3) How to incorporate a concentrated load?
Concentrated (nodal) loads must be added in Step 4.

E.g.,

59 59 0 0 U1 1/ 6 Ro
EAo 59 116 57 0 U2 1/ 3 0
po L
20L 0 57 112 55 U3 1/ 3 0
0 0 55 55 U4 1/ 6 P

3. 27
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 4) Higher-order elements
Instead of increasing the number of elements, we could increase the order of the shape
functions from order 1 (linear) to order 2 (quadratic).

Then each element has 3 nodes and 3 shape functions: EARTH

when EE
s L
Nai Aotais tazz
Nca to
us Ua N a s Ub Nb s Uc Nc s

4
Nb(s) = ? 2 s s
Nb s
where
2
Na(s)2 =s ?2
Na s s

3. 28
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