FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

UNIT –I
A.SAIKUMAR,ASSITANT PROFESSOR ,JBIT,MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
INTRODUCTION

 What is finite element analysis, FEM?

 A Brief history of FEM

 What is FEM used for?

 1D Rod Elements, 2D Trusses

FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
– WHAT IS IT?
 The Finite Element Method (FEM) is a numerical
method of solving systems of partial differential
equations (PDEs)
 It reduces a PDE system to a system of
algebraic equations that can be solved using
traditional linear algebra techniques.
 In simple terms, FEM is a method for dividing
up a very complicated problem into small elements
that can be solved in relation to each other.
 OVERVIEW OF THE
FINITE ELEMENT
METHOD

S    W    G  M
Strong Weak Galerkin Matrix
form form form
approx.
1. Lord John William Strutt Rayleigh (late 1800s), developed a
method for predicting the first natural frequency of simple
structures. It assumed a deformed shape for a structure and
then quantified this shape by minimizing the distributed energ y
in the structure.

2. Ritz then exp Walter ended this into a method, now known as
the Rayleigh-Ritz method, for predicting the stress and
displacement behavior of structures.
3. DR. RAY CLOUGH COINED THE TERM
“FINITE ELEMENT” IN 1960. THE 1960S SAW
the true beginning of commercial FEA as digital computers replaced analog
ones with the capability of thousands of operations per second.

4. In the 1950s, a team form Boeing demonstrated that complex surfaces

could be analyzed with a matrix of triangular shapes.

5. In 1943, Richard Courant proposed breaking a continuous system into

triangular segments. (The unveiling of ENIAC at the University of
Pennsylvania.)
6. In the early 1960s, the MacNeal-Schwendle Corporation (MSC)
develop a
general purpose FEA code. This original code had a limit of 68,000
degrees of freedom. When the NASA contract was complete, MSC
continued development of its own version called MSC/NASTRAN, while the
originalof
dozens NASTRAN become available
the FEA packages availabletotoday.
the public
Aroundand formed
the time the basis
6 of

MSC/NASTRAN was released, ANSYS, MARC, and SAP were introduced.

 7. BY THE 1970S, COMPUTER-AIDED
DESIGN, OR CAD, WAS INTRODUCED
decade.
LATER IN THE
8. standards such as IGES and DXF. Permitted limited geometry transfer
between the systems.

9. In the 1980s,CAD progressed from a 2D drafting tool to a 3D surfacing tool,

and then to a 3D sIn the 1980s, the use of FEA and CAD on the same
workstation with developing geometry olid modeling system. Design
engineers began to seriously consider incorporating FEA into the general
product design process.

10. As the 1990s draw to a place, the PC platform has become a major force in
high end analysis. The technology has become to accessible that it is
actually being “hidden” inside CAD packages.
7
BASIC CONCEPTS
Loads
 

f T P
i
~
 Equilibrium   0
ji ,
fi
j
 Boundary conditions
DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY

 Rayleigh-Ritz Method
 Total potential energy equation

 Galerkin’s Method
1D ROD
ELEMENTS
 To understand and solve 2D and 3D problems we must
understand basic of 1D problems.

 Analysis of 1D rod elements can be done using

Rayleigh-Ritz and Galerkin’s method.

 To solve FEA problems same are modified in the

Potential-Energy approach and Galerkin’s approach
 1D ROD ELEMENTS

 Loading consists of three types : body force f , traction force

T, point load Pi

 Body force: distributed force , acting on every

elemental volume of body i.e. self weight of body.

 Traction force: distributed force , acting on surface of body

i.e. frictional resistance, viscous drag and surface shear

 Point load: a force acting on any single point of element

1D ROD
Element -1 Element-2
ELEMENTS
 Element strain energy 1 T
U  2qe [k e ]

 Element stiffness matrix q
Ee e A  1  1

[k ]  
e

 Load vectors le  1 1 
 Element body load vector
 Element traction-force vector 
f  Aele f 1
e 2
1

T  Tle 1
e
2

1
METHODS OF SOLVING

 Elimination Approach
 Eliminate Constraints

 Penalty Approach
ELIMINATION METHOD
 Set defection at the constraint to equal zero
ELIMINATION METHOD
 Modified Equation
 DOF’s 1,2,4,7,8 equal to zero
EXAMPLE 1D ROD
ELEMENTS
Example 1
Problem statement: (Problem 3.1 from Chandrupatla and Belegunda’s
book)
Consider the bar in Fig.1, determine the following by hand calculation:
1) Displacement at point P 2) Strain and stress
3) Element stiffness matrix 4) strain energy in element

Given:

E  30 106 psi q1  0.02in

Ae  1.2 in2 q2  0.025in
Solution:
1) Displacement (q) at point P
We have

Now linear shape functions N1( ) and N2( ) are given by

And
REFERENCES