Lab #1 (Finite element modeling)

Answers will be presented in small groups on: June 12, 2021, 12:00 AM

A 1m long steel box girder is loaded with a 15kNm moment as shown below. The beam
has a depth of 75mm and a width of 150mm. The material properties are E = 210GPa and
 = 0.3.

wall thickness of 5mm Y

15kNm
1m 75mm
Z
X
150mm

Different types of elements are used to see the different approaches that can be taken to
model the same structure.

1. Create a table comparing the vertical deflection and maximum bending stress (σx) at
the midspan and the free end of the beam using the following modeling approaches:
(please include full screenshots of your model and results, include the whole screen of
your pc for each result). And also submit the model files (only .odb, .cae and .jnl
files) together with your answer.

- Use 2 beam elements.

- Use shell elements with an element size of 0.05m

- Use shell elements (linear and quadratic) with an element size of 0.05m

- Use solid element (linear and quadratic) with an element size of 0.05 m.

- Use solid mechanics equations (show your hand calculations)

 2. In point form, discuss the differences between these results specifically addressing:

a. how the results calculated using the solid mechanics equations compare to
the FE results (explain why).
b. the differences between results using the beam, shell and solid elements in
terms of the stress results available from each element.

Hint:

The different mesh types will require different underlying geometries.

- Beam elements require a 1D geometry to be constructed

- Shell elements require a (planar or extrusion) geometry to be constructed

- Solid element require a 3D solid geometry to be constructed

1D geometry (beam element)

Planar/extrusion geometry (shell element)

Solid geometry (solid element)