AF2024, Exercise A 2022-03-13

General
The results from exercise A shall be compiled in a technical report and uploaded on Canvas as a single
pdf-document no later than June 1, 2022. The exercise is performed in groups of maximum two students
and the front cover need to contain the full name of the students, the course code, the name of the
exercise and date for submitting the report. The report may give a maximum of 6 points to be included
on the exam; deductions will be made if the results are inaccurate or poorly presented. No points will
be given if the report is submitted after June 1. Note that the teacher assistant must approve all
exercises with correct solution in order to pass ÖVN1.

Part 1 – Bar and Beam Structures

The following Matlab files are available on Canvas:
A1_bar2D.m Solving a simple two-element structure using bar elements.
Bar2D.m General function for solving 2D bar structures.
Plot2DBarBeam.m General function for plotting results from 2D bar and beam structures.
A1_general.m Template for general bar or beam element structures.

1) Two-element structure (1p)

Consider the structure in Figure 1.
a) Create a Matlab script A1_beam2D.m to analyse the structure in Figure 1a using 2D beam
elements. Present the displacements, reaction forces and section forces (N, M, V) in a table.
Calculate the axial and bending stress for each element. Compare the results with
A1_bar2D.m and comment on the difference.

b) Analyse the structure in Figure 1b using beam elements. Study two cases of the horizontal
stiffness Kh = 0 and Kh = 40 MN/m and present the results similar to 1a).
What would happen if the structure was analysed with bar elements and Kh = 0?

c) Write a Matlab function Beam2D.m that can analyse general 2D beam structures, similar to
the function Bar2D.m. Assure that the function produce the same result as the script in 1a).
Plot the structure using the function Plot2DBarBeam.m.

b=3m
h=4m
E = 210 GPa
A = 10E-3 m2
I = 10E-3 m4
y = 0.1 m
R = 1000 kN
𝑁𝑁 𝑀𝑀
𝜎𝜎 = ± 𝑦𝑦
𝐴𝐴 𝐼𝐼

a) b)
Figure 1: A two-element structure, a) fixed supports, b) flexible support at the right side.

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AF2024, Exercise A 2022-03-13

2) Cantilever beam (0.5p)

Analyse the cantilever beam in Figure 2 using beam elements.
a) Model the load in Figure 2a using vertical point loads at each node.

b) Model the load in Figure 2a using consistent nodal loads.

c) How many elements are required in 2a) and 2b) to obtain an error of less than 1% in vertical
tip displacement? Comment on the results.

d) Derive the consistent nodal load vector for Figure 2b, analyse the model using a single
element and compare with the theoretical tip displacement.

𝑞𝑞𝐿𝐿4
𝛿𝛿𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = L = 10 m
8𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸
E = 210 GPa
a) A = 10E-3 m2
I = 10E-3 m4
y = 0.1 m
𝑞𝑞𝐿𝐿4 q = 21 kN/m
𝛿𝛿𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 =
30𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸
b)
Figure 2: Cantilever beam subjected to a) a rectangular distributed load, b) a triangular load.

3) Truss bridge (0.5p)

Consider the truss bridge in Figure 3.
a) Analyse the bridge with bar elements, using the function Bar2D.m. Use Plot2DBarBeam.m
to produce result tables and figures with a similar structure as in 1).

b) Analyse the bridge using beam elements, using the function Beam2D.m that was developed
in 1b). Compare the results with 3a). The design requirements are that the vertical
displacement is limited to L/600 and the yield stress is fyd = 220 MPa. Check if this is fulfilled in
both 3a) and 3b).

c) Replace the two point loads with a corresponding evenly distributed consistent load on
element E1, E2, E3. Compare the results with 3b) and comment on the results.
a=8m
n5 E4 n6 E5 n7
h=4m
P P E = 210 GPa
h E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11
A = 10E-3 m2
I = 10E-3 m4
E1 E2 E3 y = 0.1 m
n1 n2 n3 n4
P = 1200 kN
a/2
L = 3a

Figure 3: 2D truss bridge subjected to two concentrated loads.

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AF2024, Exercise A 2022-03-13

Part 2 – Plane Stress Problems

The following Matlab files are available on Canvas:
plani4e.m Calculates the K-matrix for a 4-noded isoparametric plane element
plani4s.m Calculate element stresses for a 4-noded isoparametric plane element
plani8e.m Calculates the K-matrix for a 8-noded isoparametric plane element
plani8s.m Calculate element stresses for a 8-noded isoparametric plane element
topo_4node.m generate topology for a 4-noded isoparametric plane element
topo_8node.m generate topology for a 8-noded isoparametric plane element

4) A 4-noded bilinear plane stress element (1p)

Exercise 4a)-c) below are solved using hand calculations. Each step of the calculation needs to be
presented and explained.
a) For a bilinear 4-noded plane stress element, derive the shape functions [N] and the local
stiffness matrix [k]. Only the matrix element k(4,1) needs to be calculated.

b) Write the consistent nodal load vector according to Figure 4.

c) For the structure in Figure 4, replace the distributed load with a prescribed displacement u1
and u4. Determine the stress components at the midpoint of the element, in terms of a, b, E, ν
and the displacements [u1 v1 u2 v2 u3 v3 u4 v4].
- Check a numerical case using a = 1 m, b = 0.5 m, E = 200 GPa, t = 0.1 m, ν = 0 and
u1 = u4 = 2 mm. Compare the results with a simple hand calculation.
- Calculate the stress components for ν = 0.3 and comment on the results.

d) Write a Matlab script to analyse the structure in Figure 4 using one element with 2x2
integration points. Use the script plani4e.m to calculate the K-matrix and plani4s.m to
calculate the stresses (note the convention for Gauss points). Apply a load q1 = q4 = 20 MN/m
instead of the prescribed displacements.
- Use a = 1 m, b = 0.5 m, E = 200 GPa, t = 0.1 m, ν = 0. Present the stresses and
displacements for the element.
- Perform the same analysis with ν = 0.3 and comment on the results.

Figure 4: A bilinear 4-noded plane stress element subjected to a lateral load.

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AF2024, Exercise A 2022-03-13

5) Cantilever beam (1p)

Create a Matlab script to analyse the structure in Figure 5.
a) Use 4-noded plane stress elements and full integration (2x2 Gauss points). Three different
mesh sizes shall be studied; 2x2 elements, 5x2 elements and 10x2 elements (two elements
along the height h). Calculate the following:
- A plot of the deformed shape of the structure.
- The vertical tip displacement at (x=L, y=0).
- The reaction forces at x=0 and calculate the resulting bending moment.
- The longitudinal stress along the top- and bottom surface.
- Compare all the results above with simple beam theory.

b) Model the beam with 8-noded plane stress elements and full integration (3x3 Gauss points).
Use the same mesh sizes as in a). Calculate the following:
- A plot of the deformed shape of the structure.
- The vertical tip displacement at (x=L, y=0).
- The reaction forces at x=0 and calculate the resulting bending moment.
- Comment on the rate of convergence for the vertical tip displacement using the 4-noded and
8-noded element.

q
L = 10 m
E = 200 GPa
h=2m
y t = 0.1 m
q = 160 kN/m
x h ν=0

Figure 5: Cantilever beam subjected to a distributed load.

𝑞𝑞𝐿𝐿4 𝑥𝑥 𝑥𝑥 4
𝑑𝑑𝑦𝑦 (𝑥𝑥) = �3 − 4 �1 − � + �1 − � �
24𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝐿𝐿 𝐿𝐿
𝑞𝑞𝐿𝐿2 𝑥𝑥 2 𝑥𝑥
𝑀𝑀𝑧𝑧 (𝑥𝑥) = 2
�1 − � , 𝑉𝑉𝑦𝑦 (𝑥𝑥) = 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 �1 − �
𝐿𝐿 𝐿𝐿

𝑀𝑀 𝑡𝑡ℎ2
𝜎𝜎𝑥𝑥 = ± , 𝑊𝑊 =
𝑊𝑊 6

Hints on a)
- Use the functions plani4e.m and plani4s.m.
- Use the script topo_4node.m for the topology.

Hints on b)
- Use the functions plani8e.m and plani8s.m.
- Use the script topo_8node.m for the topology.
- The consistent nodal loads are presented in Eq. 3.11-6 in (Cook et al, 2002)

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AF2024, Exercise A 2022-03-13

Part 3 – Shell Element Problems using Abaqus

The exercise shall be solved using Abaqus. An introduction to Abaqus is available on Canvas.

6a) Convergence check of a one-way slab (0.5p)

Consider SLAB1 in Figure 6. The thickness t = 0.16 m and v = 0.
- Analyse the slab using the mesh size dL = 0.5 m, 0.25 m and 0.1 m.
- Use element S4R and S8R for each mesh size.
- Calculate mxx, vxx and dz along line I (y=a/2) and compare the results with simple beam theory.
- Present the results in graphs and the peak results in tables.
- For the case dL = 0.1 m and S8R elements, use ν = 0.2 and present mxx and myy along line I.
- Comment on the results. What is a suitable mesh and element type for this problem?

Figure 6: Concrete slab denoted SLAB1, SLAB2 and SLAB3. E = 40 GPa, q = 10 kN/m2 and a = 4 m.

6b) Thin and thick two-way slab (0.5p)

Consider SLAB2 in Figure 6. Use dL = 0.1 m and v = 0.2. The following shall be done:
- perform the analysis with t = 0.16 m, t = 0.5 m, t = 1.0 m,
- for each case, use both S3 (Mindlin) and STRI3 (Kirchhoff) elements,
- for each case, calculate the max values for dz, mxx, mxy and vxx,
- compile the results in a table and compare with plate theory (see below).
Plate theory: dz = 0.00406qa4/D, D = Et3/(12(1-v2)), mxx = 0.0441qa2, mxy = 0.0371qa2, vxx = 0.313qa

For the case t = 1.0 and both S3 and STRI3 elements present the following:
- contour plots of mxy,
- a graph of the vertical reaction along line I (y = 0),
- a graph of mxy, along line I for STRI3 and along line II (y = a/8) for S3.
- Comment on the results and the expected difference between S3 and STRI3 elements. What is
the main difference between S3 and STRI3 regarding mxy?

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AF2024, Exercise A 2022-03-13

6c) Angled slab (0.5p)

Study SLAB3 in Figure 6. The ball-support at x = y = 0 prevents translation in x-y-z but not rotations.
Use v = 0.2, dL = 0.1 m and S8R elements and study two cases: t = 0.16 m and t = 0.5 m.
- Calculate mxy along line I (x = 0)
- Calculate vxx along line II (x = 0.5 m)
- Calculate mxx along line III (x = 2 m)
- Present the peak results in a table.
- Identify the points in the structure where singularities may appear, motivate.
- Comment on the results.

7) Box girder bridge (0.5p)

The simply supported box girder bridge in Figure 7 shall be analysed for two separate load cases,
LC1 and LC2. Motivate the choice of elements and mesh size.
For each of LC1 and LC2:
- Calculate the vertical displacement at z = L/2.
- Calculate the relevant resulting beam-section forces at z = 0 and z = L/2.
Hint: use “Free Body Cut” under “Tools – View Cut” to calculate the beam-section forces.
For LC1:
- Compare the results with simple beam theory and comment on the results.

Figure 7: Cross-section of a box girder bridge. B = 12 m, b = 5 m, h = 3 m, t = 0.5 m, L = 60 m.

E = 40 GPa, v = 0. In both cases, q = 25 kN/m2. Ix = 18.1 m4, Kv = 26.6 m3.