FEM SOFTWARE PROJECT

Finite Element Analysis Of an ISOGRID Structure by

using 3D and 2D Elements

PRESENTED BY

S C 2 1 D 0 4 1 - R A JA R A JA N - P H D
S C 2 1 M 0 3 7 -YA G N E S H WA R I R - M .T EC H
S C 2 1 M 0 3 8 -YAT H I S H P K A R K E R A - M .T EC H
S C 1 8 B 0 4 9 - D E VA S H I S H B H A L L A - B .T EC H
S C 1 8 B 0 4 2 - S A N K A L P V I S H N O I - B .T EC H
 Material Properties
1. Material - Structural steel 
2. Young's Modulus E = 200 GPa 
3. Poisson Ratio ν = 0.3

Units  of the Results

4. Deformation is shown in mm
5. Strain is shown in mm/mm
6. Stress is shown in MPa
 Boundary Conditions
1. Fixed Boundary at the Edge B

2. Uniform Pressure Load of 1 e-3 MPa

Dimensions of Isogrid Panel

1. Sides of Hexagonal plate – 240 mm
2. Thickness of plate - 2mm
3. Pocket size – 50mm equilateral triangle
4. Thickness of Rib - 2mm
 3D and 2D Elements considered 
3D elements:
1. Hexahedron Element – 8 Node
2. Tetrahedral Element – 4 Node

2D elements:
3. Quad Element - 4 Node
4. Triangular Element - 3 Node
Hexahedron Element
Hexahedron Element​

Mesh Deformation
Hexahedron Element​

von-Misses Strain von-Misses Stress

Tetrahedral Element
Tetrahedral Element​

Mesh Deformation
Tetrahedral Element​

von-Misses Strain von-Misses Stress

Quad Element
Quad Element​

Mesh Deformation
Quad Element​

von-Misses Strain von-Misses Stress

Triangular Element
Triangular Element​

Mesh Deformation
Triangular Element​

von-Misses Strain von-Misses Stress

Results comparison
Element type Deformation Strain Stress
(mm) (MPa)

Triangular 9.8995 0.00084642 168.8

Quad 9.9798 0.00097074 194.15

Tetrahedral  3.4969 0.00026879 47.567

Hexahedral 7.4107 0.00097458 194.92

Mesh locking
Mesh locking
Mesh locking
 Observations
1. For 2d, a linear quadratic performs better than a tri element
2. Linear hexahedron can generally deform for lower strain energy state, thus making
them more accurate than linear tetrahedrons in numerous occasions. 
3. Linear tetrahedron models make errors between 10 to 70 percent in both displacement
and stress calculations
4. The results for tetrahedron is improved using a quadratic tetrahedron

Reference- Benzley, Steven E., et al. "A comparison of all hexagonal and all tetrahedral finite element
meshes for elastic and elasto-plastic analysis." Proceedings, 4th international meshing roundtable. Vol.
17. Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, NM, 1995.
Quadratic Tetrahedral Element​
​ Mesh Deformation
Quadratic Tetrahedral Element​​
​

von-Misses Strain von-Misses Stress

 Linear Quadratic Linear
tetrahedron tetrahedron hexahedron

Stress
(MPa) 45.567 183.57 194.15

Strain () 0.26879 1.0288 0.97458

Deformation 3.4969 8.3216 7.4107

(mm)
Transient Analysis
Boundary Conditions
1. Contact between Isogrid Panel & Roller -
Frictionless
2. Fixed Support - Four Edges (excluding middle
ones)
Displacement of Roller
3. X & Y – Constrained
4. Z – 10mm in 10 seconds towards the isogrid
panel
Deformation
Deformation Animation – 10 seconds
Yield Point
Max. von-Mises stress at 1mm displacement is 294.46 MPa
THANK YOU