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FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part2

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FEMforHeatTransferProblems(Finite
ElementMethod)Part2
WeightedResidualApproachForFEM
Inthatcase,oneneedstoknowthefunctionalforthephysicalproblem.Formanyengineering
problems,onedoesnotknowthefunctionaloritisnotknownasintuitivelyasinmechanics
problems.Instead,thegoverningequationfortheproblemwouldbeknown.Whatwewanttodonow
isestablishFEMequationsbasedonthegoverningequation,butwithoutknowingthefunctional.In
thiscase,itisconvenienttousetheweightedresidualapproachtoformulatetheFEMsystem
equations.
ThegeneralformofEq.(12.1)canberewrittenintheform

wherethefunctionfisgivenas

Ingeneral,itisdifficulttoobtaintheexactsolutionof(,y)whichsatisfiesEq.(12.24).Therefore,
anapproximatedsolutionof(,y)issoughtfor,whichsatisfiesEq.(12.24)inaweightedintegral
sense,i.e.

whereWistheweightfunction.Wehopethatthesolutionof(,y)thatsatisfiesEq.(12.26)canbea
goodapproximationoftheexactresults.Thisisthebasicideabehindtheweightedresidualapproach.
Thisapproachisverysimple,andcanbeusedinthefiniteelementmethodtoestablishthediscretized
systemequationsasdescribedbelow.
Toensureagoodapproximation,theproblemdomainisdividedintosmallersubdomains
(elements),aswehavedoneinprevioustopics,asshowninFigure12.5.Ineachelement,itis
assumedthat

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wherethesuperscripthindicatesthatthefieldvariableisapproximated,and

inwhichNiistheshapefunctionofxandy,andndisthenumberofthenodesoftheelement.

Figure12.5.Divisionofproblemdomainboundedbyintoelements.
ForthetriangularelementshowninFigure12.5,nd=3.InEq.(12.27),isthefieldvariableatthe
nodesoftheelement.Thereareanumberofwaysinwhichtheweightfunction,W,canbechosen
whendevelopingtheelementequations.Whentheshapefunctionsareusedastheweightfunction,
themethodiscalledtheGalerkinmethod,whichisoneofthemostpopularmethodsfordeveloping
theFEequation.
UsingtheGalerkinmethod,theresidualcalculatedatallthenodesforanelementisthenevaluated
bytheequation

Finally,thetotalresidualateachofallthenodesintheproblemdomainisthenassembledand
enforcedtozerotoestablishthesystemequationforthewholesystem.FEMequationswillbe
developedinthefollowingsectionsforoneandtwodimensionalfieldproblems,usingaheattransfer
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problemasanexample.

IdHeatTransferProblem
OneDimensionalFin
ConsidertheonedimensionalfinshowninFigure12.6.Thegoverningdifferentialequationfora
steadystateheattransferproblemforthefinisgivenbyEq.(12.7).Theboundaryconditions
associatedwithEq.(12.7)usuallyconsistofaspecifiedtemperatureatx=0

andconvectionheatlossatthefreeend,wherex=H

wherebisthetemperatureattheendofthefinandisnotknownpriortothesolutionoftheproblem.
NotethattheconvectiveheattransfercoefficientinEq.(12.31)mayormaynotbethesameasthatin
Eq.(12.7).

Figure12.6.Onedimensionalproblem:heattransferinathinfinthatisdividedintonelements.
Usingthesamefiniteelementtechnique,thefinisdividedintoelementsasshowninFigure12.6.In
oneelement,theresidualequation,canbeobtainedusingtheGalerkinapproachasinEq.(12.29):
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where

forheattransferinthinfins.Notethattheminussignisaddedtotheresidualmainlyforconvenience.
IntegrationbypartsisthenperformedonthefirsttermoftherighthandsideofEq.(12.32),leadingto

Usingtheusualinterpolationofthefieldvariable,,bytheshapefunctionsinthe1Dcase,

andsubstitutingEq.(12.34)intoEq.(12.33),gives

or

where

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istheelementmatrixofthermalconduction.Matrix

inEq.(12.36)isdefinedby

whichisthematrixofthermalconvectiononthecircumferenceoftheelement.Vectorfgisassociated
withtheexternalheatappliedontheelement,definedas

Finally,b(e)isdefinedby

whichassociateswiththegradientofthetemperature(orheatflux)atthetwoendsoftheelement.
InEq.(12.37),

isthesameasthestrainmatrixinthecaseofmechanicsproblems.Forlinearelements,theshape
functionsareasfollows:

and

SubstitutingtheaboveequationintoEq.(12.37),theheatconductionmatrixisobtainedas
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Inderivingtheaboveequation,D=kAhasbeenused.ComparedwithEq.(4.15),itcanbeseenthat
kD^isinfacttheanalogyofthestiffnessmatrixofatrussstructure.Thetensilestiffnesscoefficient
AE/lhasbeenreplacedbytheheatconductivitycoefficientofkA/l.

Similarly,toobtaintheconvectionmatrix
Eq.(12.42)intoEq.(12.38),

correspondingtotheheatconvection,substitute

Inderivingtheaboveequation,g=hPhasbeenused.ComparedwithEq.(4.16),itcanbeseenthat
kge)isinfacttheanalogyofthemassmatrixofatrussstructure.Thetotalmassofthetrusselement
AplcorrespondstothetotalheatconvectionrateofhPl.
ThenodalheatvectorfQisobtainedwhenEq.(12.42)issubstitutedintoEq.(12.39),giving

Inderivingtheaboveequation,Q=q+hPf(seeEq.(12.8))hasbeenused.Thenodalheatvector
consistsoftheheatsupplyandtheconvectionalheatinputtothefin.Thenodalheatvectoristhe
analogyofthenodalforcevectorfortrusselements.
Finally,letusanalysethevectorb(e)definedbyEq.(12.40),whichisassociatedwiththethermal
conditionsontheboundariesoftheelement:

wherethesubscriptsLandRstandfortheleftandrightendsoftheelement.Itcanbeeasilyproven
thatattheinternalnodesofthefin,b^andbevanishwhentheelementsareassembled,asillustrated
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inFigure12.7.Asaresult,bneedstobedeterminedonlyforthenodesontheboundarybyusingthe
conditionsprescribed.Atboundarieswherethetemperatureisprescribed,asshowninEq.(12.30),b^
orbRareyettoknow.Infact,thereisnoneedtoknowb^orbR^inthestageofsolvingthesystem
equation,asthetemperatureatthenodeisalreadyknown.Thesituationisverymuchthesameatthe
prescribeddisplacementboundary,wherethereactionforceisusuallyunknownatthestageofsolving
systemequations.
However,whenthereisheatconvectionattheendsofthefin,asprescribedinEq.(12.31),bLorbR
areobtainedusingtheboundaryconditions,sincetheheatfluxtherecanbecalculated.

Figure12.7.Vectorb(e)vanishesatinternalpointsafterassembly.
Forexample,forboundaryconditionsdefinedbyEq.(12.31),wehave

Sincebisthetemperatureofthefinattheboundarypoint,wehaveb=],whichisanunknown.
Equation(12.49)canberewrittenas

or

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where

and

NotethatEqs.(12.51)(12.53)arederivedassumingthattheconvectiveboundaryisonnode],which
istherightsideoftheelement.Iftheconvectiveboundaryisontheleftsideoftheelement,wethen
have

where

and

Substitutingtheexpressionsforb(e)backintoEq.(12.36),weobtain

orinasimplifiedformof

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where

and

Notethatandfe)existonlyifthenodeisontheconvectiveboundary,andtheyaregivenbyEqs.
(12.52)and(12.53)orEqs.(12.55)and(12.56),dependingonthelocationofthenode.Ifthe
boundaryisinsulated,meaningthereisnoheatexchangeoccurringthere,bothk^andf(e)vanish,
becaused^/dx=0atsuchaboundary.Afterobtainingtheelementmatrices,theresidualdefinedby
Eq.(12.58)isassembled,andenforcedtoequatetozero,whichwillleadtothefollowingglobal
systemequation:

Theaboveequationhasthesameformasthatforastaticmechanicsproblem.Thedetailedassembly
processisdescribedintheexamplesthatfollow.

DirectAssemblyProcedure
Consideranelementequationofresidualintheform

orintheexpandedform

Considernowtwolinearonedimensionalelements,asshowninFigure12.8.Wehaveforelement1,

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Figure12.8.Assemblingoftwoelementsdemonstratingthedirectassemblyprinciple.
andforelement2,

Thetotalresidualatanodeshouldbeobtainedbysummarizingalltheresidualscontributedfromall
theelementsthatareconnectedtothenode,andthetotalresidualshouldvanishtoensurethebest
satisfactionofthesystemequations.Wethenhaveatnode1,

atnode2,

andatnode3,

WritingEqs.(12.68),(12.69)and(12.70)inmatrixformgives

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FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part2

whichisthesameastheassemblyprocedureintroducedinSection3.4.7andExample4.2.
Nextpost:FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part3
Previouspost:FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part1

RelatedLinks
TheFiniteElementMethod
ComputationalModelling(FiniteElementMethod)
IntroductiontoMechanicsforSolidsandStructures(FiniteElementMethod)Part1
IntroductiontoMechanicsforSolidsandStructures(FiniteElementMethod)Part2
IntroductiontoMechanicsforSolidsandStructures(FiniteElementMethod)Part3
FundamentalsforFiniteElementMethodPart1

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