FEM FORMULATION

 
Direct Formulation
 Weighted Residual Methods

Example with a single governing equation with only one independent variable
f [T ( x)]  0 in 

T is the function sought , function of x only

 is the domain of the region governed by f
Boundary conditions
g1 [T ( x)]  0 in 1
g 2 [T ( x)]  0 in 2
1 and 2 are parts of the boundary of 
Approximation of the solution with a T ' function:
n
T '  T ' ( x; a1 , a 2 ,, a n )   ai N i ( x)
i 1
 Cont--

which has one or more unknown( but constant) parameters a1 , a 2 , a n satisfies exactly
the boundary conditions. No surprise if the approximation does not satisfy the equation
exactly! We will get a residual error:
f [T ' ( x; a1 , a 2 , , a n )]  R( x; a1 , a 2 ,  , a n )
The method of weighted residuals requires that the parameters a1 , a 2 , a n be determined
satisfying:


 Wi ( x)R( x; a1 , a 2 ,, an )d  0
where the functions Wi (x) are the n arbitrary weighting functions
 Cont.----

The conditions of the weighting functions is generally left to a personal judgment

The most popular weighted-residual methods are:
1) Point collection
2) Subdomain collection
3) Least squares
4) Galerkin
Point Collection
The weighted functions Wi (x) are  ( x  xi ) and defined such that
b
  ( x  x )dx  1
a
i for x  xi

b
  ( x  x )dx  0
a
i for x  xi
Substitution of this choice of wi (x) gives:

  ( x  x ) R( x; a , a

i 1 2 ,  a n ) d  0 for i  1,2,, n

which is evaluated at n collection points x1 , x 2 ,, x n results n algebraic equations in n

unknowns

R( x1 ; a1 , a 2 ,, a n )  0
R( x 2 ; a1 , a 2 ,, a n )  0

R( x n ; a1 , a 2 , , a n )  0
Subdomain Collection

The weighted functions Wi (x) are:

1 for x in 1
W1 ( x )  
0 for x not in 1

1 for x in  2
W2 ( x )  
0 for x not in  2
Substitution of this choice of wi (x) gives the following n integral equations

 R( x; a , a
1
1 2 ,  a n ) d 1  0

 R( x; a , a
2
1 2 , a n ) d 2  0


 R( x; a , a
n
1 2 ,  a n ) d n  0
Least Squares

The method of least squares requires that the integral I of the square of the residual R be
minimized. That is:
I   [ R( x; a1 , a 2 , , a n )] 2 d be a minimum, or equivalently


I  
     d
2 2
[ R ( x; a1 , a 2 ,  , a n )] d [ R ( x; a1 , a 2 ,  , a n )]
ai ai  
ai
Carrying out the differentiations and simplifying, we have:
R R R
 R ai d   R a2 d    R an d  0
which means that the weighting functions are:
R
 R ai d  0 i  1,2,, n
Galerkin

The weighting functions wi (x) are N i (x)

Therefore for the Galerkin method of the weighted residuals we have:
 N i ( x) R( x; a1 , a2 ,, an )d  0 i  1,2,, n

Remember that our approximation of the T (x) function is:
n
T  T ' ( x; a1 , a 2 , , a n )   ai N i ( x)
i 1
Variational Formulation

A functional is linear
u u
 (u , )   ( a1u  a 2 ) d
x 
x
A functional is quadratic if all terms are of second order, for example

u 2
 

 (a1
x
)  a 2 u 2 ) d
(

For a purely quadratic functional

u 
u  u 
1  
   u   D   d
2  x   x 

  

 D is a symmetric matrix independent of u

u 
 (u )  u 
 
   u   D   d

 x   x 

  

 is positive definite if D is positive definite matrix that is all the value of D are positive
Variational Formulation

A functional is linear
u u
 (u , )   ( a1u  a 2 ) d
x 
x
A functional is quadratic if all terms are of second order, for example

u 2
 

 (a1
x
)  a 2 u 2 ) d
(

For a purely quadratic functional

u 
u  u 
1  
   x
u   D    d
2    x 

   
 D is a symmetric matrix independent of u

u 
 (u )  u 
 
   u   D   d

 x   x 

  

 is positive definite if D is positive definite matrix that is all the value of D are positive