AME 561

Homework One – Report

Kyle Ostendorp

Part One:

The purpose of this outlined report is to discuss the obtained results created from solving
the statically indeterminate truss problem both via finite element analysis (coded within Matlab)
and through using the strength of materials solution via Castigliano’s theorem. A five-element
truss with boundary conditions of no movement imposed on nodes one and four and a downward
acting point force on node two is the basis of the problem. The initial truss element with nodes
highlighted in red can be seen here:

Figure One – Five element truss depicted with nodes

Through the attached MATLAB code, elementary stiffness matrices were able to be
created for each of the five elements based on their length, nodal elements, and angle with
respect to the positive x-axis. The addition of these five elementary stiffness matrices led to the
creation of the global stiffness matrix. Knowing the limitations on the movement at nodes 1 and
4, the 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 8th rows and columns of KGlobal were able to be removed to create a new
matrix Kreduced. Knowing that the system is linear, we could solve for the reduced displacement
matrix at nodes two and three via the formula: Ured = Fred / Kreduced. This equation led the code to
find the deformations at nodes 2 and 3 in both the x and y direction.
With these displacements found, they could be put back into the total displacement
matrix with KGlobal. Thus, reverting the equation above leads to the finding of the entire force
vector, which includes the reaction forces in x/y at nodes one and four.
 A second truss could then be formed overlaying the original truss that shows the nodal
deformations. The second figure can be seen here:

Figure Two – The deformed truss overlaying the original truss. Note: The deformations are
exaggerated by a scale of 10 here to show the deformation better.

With the second figure shown, the next step in the FEA is to solve for the stresses and
strains in each of the elements. For each element, the stress can be represented as:
Stress= ( E
Length )
∗[− cos ( θ ) ,−sin ( θ ) ,cos (θ ) ,sin ( θ ) )∗[U j ,V j ,U k ,V k ]'
Where E represents Young’s Modulus, and j and k are the nodal indices associated with the
current element the stress is to be found at.

The strains can be found much easier, as Hooke’s Law was used since the deformations are
small. Therefore:
ε =σ /E
With ε representing the strain in the element.

Part Two:

In the second part of the problem, the same truss was solved by hand via Castigliano
theorem. The reaction forces in the x-direction were solved for via the moment equilibrium
equations and then the method of joints was conducted to find the force of each element within
the truss in terms of the vertical reaction force at node 1. This allowed for Castigliano’s theorem
of:
( F ¿ ¿i )∗( Li)
2
U =∑ ¿
2 AE
And
 ∂U
=¿0 since node one is fixed.
∂ R1 y
This allowed one to find the reaction forces in the y-direction and thus further allowed to find the
force in each truss element as they were in terms of the vertical reaction force at node 1. With
this, the same equations were used as above to find the stresses and strains in each element. The
deformations were calculated as simply the change in length between the original and deformed
elements and this was then compared to the same formula within MATLAB. A table comparing
the results can be seen here:

MATLAB CASTIGLIANO
Stress Vector 1.0e+06 * 1e6 * [-5.68, 4.42, 4.42, 7.89,
-6.25]
[-5.5776 4.4224 4.4224
7.8879 -6.2543] N/m^2
Strain Vector [-0.0027 0.0021 0.0021 [-.00266, .00365, .00211, .00
0.0038 -0.0030] 21, -.00298]
Reaction Forces 1.0e+06 * [f, .442f, 0, -f, 0,0,-f,.568f]

[ 1.0000 0.4422 -0.0000

-1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 -
1.0000 0.5578]
Change in Length [-0.0026 0.0021 0.0021 [-.0026, .0021. .0021, .0052,
0.0053 -0.0042] -.0042]

Nodal Displacements [0 0 -0.0027 -0.0102 N/A

0.0021 -0.0081 0
0]

As you can see, the FEA results exactly matched the results of Castigliano theorem with the only
difference being the rounding error associated with the work being done by hand.

The attached work and MATLAB code is to be used in conjunction with this report as a method
to supplement my findings.