Home

Chapter 2

Introduction to Finite Element Analysis in Solid Mechanics

Most practical design calculations involve components with a complicated three-dimensional geometry, and
may also need to account for inherently nonlinear phenomena such as contact, large shape changes, or
nonlinear material behavior.   These problems can only be solved using computer simulations.  The finite
element method is by far the most widely used and versatile technique for simulating deformable solids.  This
chapter gives a brief overview of the finite element method, with a view to providing the background needed to
run simple simulations using a commercial finite element program.  More advanced analysis requires a deeper
understanding of the theory and implementation of finite element codes, which will be addressed in the next
chapter.

HEALTH WARNING: It is deceptively easy to use commercial finite element software: most programs come
with a nice user-interface that allows you to define the geometry of the solid, choose a material model,
generate a finite element mesh and apply loads to the solid with a few mouse clicks.   If all goes well, the
program will magically turn out animations showing the deformation; contours showing stress distributions;
and much more besides.  It is all too easy, however, to produce meaningless results, by attempting to solve a
problem that does not have a well defined solution; by using an inappropriate numerical scheme; or simply
using incorrect settings for internal tolerances in the code.  In addition, even high quality software can contain
bugs.  Always treat the results of a finite element computations with skepticism!

2.1 Introduction

The finite element method (FEM) is a computer technique for solving partial differential equations.   One
application is to predict the deformation and stress fields within solid bodies subjected to external forces. 
However, FEM can also be used to solve problems involving fluid flow, heat transfer, electromagnetic fields,
diffusion, and many other phenomena. 

The principle objective of the displacement based finite

element method is to compute the displacement field
within a solid subjected to external forces.

To make this precise, visualize a solid deforming under

external loads.  Every point in the solid moves as the load
is applied.   The displacement vector u(x) specifies the
motion of  the point at position x in the undeformed solid. 
Our objective is to determine u(x).  Once u(x) is known,
the strain and stress fields in the solid can be deduced.

There are two general types of finite element analysis in solid mechancis.  In most cases, we are interested in
determining the behavior of a solid body that is in static equilibrium.   This means that both external and
internal forces acting on the solid sum to zero.  In some cases, we may be interested in the dynamic behavior
of a solid body.  Examples include modeling vibrations in structures, problems involving wave propagation,
explosive loading and crash analysis. 

For Dynamic Problems the finite element method solves the equations of motion for a continuum – essentially
a more complicated version of ∑ 𝐅 = 𝑚 𝐚.  Naturally, in this case it must  calculate the motion of the solid as a
function of time.

For Static Problems the finite element method solves the equilibrium equations ∑ 𝐅 = 𝟎.  In this case, it may
not be necessary to calculate the time variation of motion.  However, some materials are history dependent
(e.g metals deformed in the plastic regime).  In addition, a static equilibrium problem may have more than one
solution, depending on the load history.  In this case the time variation of the solution must be computed.
For some applications, you may also need to solve additional field equations.   For example, you may be
interested in calculating the temperature distribution in the solid, or calculating electric or magnetic fields.  In
addition, special finite element procedures are available to calculate buckling loads and their modes, as well as
natural frequencies of vibration and the corresponding mode shapes for a deformable solid. 

To set up a  finite element calculation, you will need to specify

1.       The geometry of the solid.  This is done by generating a finite element mesh for the solid.  The
mesh can usually be generated automatically from a CAD representation of the solid.
2.      The properties of the material.  This is done by specifying a constitutive law for the solid.
3.      The nature of the loading applied to the solid.  This is done by specifying the boundary conditions
for the problem.
4.            If your analysis involves contact between two more more solids, you will need to specify the
surfaces that are likely to come into contact, and the properties (e.g. friction coefficient) of the
contact.
5.       For a dynamic analysis, it is necessary to specify initial conditions for the problem.  This is not
necessary for a static analysis.
6.           For problems involving additional fields, you may need to specify initial values for these field
variables (e.g. you would need to specify the initial temperature distribution in a thermal analysis).
You will also need to specify some additional aspects of the problem you are solving and the solution
procedure to be used:
1. You will need to specify whether the computation should take into account finite changes in the
geometry of the solid.
2. For a dynamic analysis,  you will need to specify the time period of the analysis (or the number of
time increments)
3.  For a static analysis you will need to decide whether the problem is linear, or nonlinear.   Linear
problems are very easy to solve.  Nonlinear problems may need special procedures.
4. For a static analysis with history dependent materials you will need to specify the time period of the
analysis, and the time step size (or number of steps)
5. If you are interested in calculating natural frequencies and mode shapes for the system, you must
specify how many modes to extract.
 6. Finally, you will need to specify what the finite element method must compute.

The steps in running a finite element computation are discussed in more detail in the following sections.

2.2 The Finite Element Mesh for a 2D or 3D component

The finite element mesh is used to specify the geometry of the solid,
and is also used to describe the displacement field within the solid. 
A typical mesh (generated in the commercial FEA code ABAQUS) is
shown in the picture to the right.

A finite element mesh may be three dimensional, like the example

shown.  Two dimensional finite element meshes are also used to
model simpler modes of deformation.  There are three main types of
two dimensional finite element mesh:
1.      Plane stress
2.      Plane strain
3.      Axisymmetric

In addition, special types of finite element can be used to model the

overall behavior of a 3D solid, without needing to solve for the full 3D
fields inside the solid.   Examples are shell elements; plate elements;
beam elements and truss elements.   These will be discussed in a
separate section below.

Plane Stress Finite Element Mesh : A plane stress finite element mesh
is used to model a plate - like solid which is loaded in its own plane.  The
solid must have uniform thickness, and the thickness must be much less
than any representative cross sectional dimension.  A plane stress finite
element mesh for a thin plate containing a hole is shown in the figure to
the right.  Only on quadrant of the specimen is modeled, since symmetry boundary conditions will be enforced
during the analysis.
 Plane Strain finite element mesh : A plane strain finite element mesh is
used to model a long cylindrical solid that is prevented from stretching
parallel to its axis.  For example, a plane strain finite element mesh for a
cylinder which is in contact with a rigid floor is shown in the figure.  Away
from the ends of the cylinder, we expect it to deform so that the out of
plane component of displacement 𝑢3 (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 ) = 0.   There is no need to
solve for 𝑢3 , therefore, so a two dimensional mesh is sufficient to
calculate 𝑢1 (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 ) and 𝑢2 (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 ).

As before, only one quadrant of the specimen is meshed: symmetry

boundary conditions will be enforced during the analysis.

Axisymmetric finite element mesh: An axisymmetric mesh is

used to model a solids that has rotational symmetry, which is
subjected to axisymmetric loading.  An example is shown on the
right.

The picture compares a three dimensional mesh of an

axisymmetric bushing to an axisymmetric mesh.  Note that the
half the bushing has been cut away in the 3D view, to show the
geometry more clearly.  In an axisymmetric analysis, the origin for
the (x,y) coordinate system is always on the axis of   rotational
symmetry.  Note also that to run an axisymmetric finite element
analysis, both the geometry of the solid, and also the loading applied to the solid, must have rotational
symmetry about the y axis.

2.2.1 Nodes and Elements in a Mesh

A finite element mesh is defined by a set of nodes together with

a set of finite elements, as shown in the sketch on the right.

Nodes: The nodes are a set of discrete points within the solid
body.  Nodes have the following properties:

1.      A node number.  Every node is assigned an integer number,

which is used to identify the node.   Any convenient
numbering scheme may be selected –   the nodes do not
need to be numbered in order, and numbers may be
omitted.  For example, one could number a set of n nodes as
100, 200, 300… 100n, instead of 1,2,3…n.

2.           Nodal coordinates.  For a three dimensional finite element analysis, each node is assigned a set of 
(𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 )   coordinates, which specifies the position of the node in the undeformed solid.   For a two
dimensional analysis, each node is assigned a pair of  (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 ) coordinates.  For an axisymmetric analysis,
the 𝑥2  axis must coincide with the axis of rotational symmetry.

3.           Nodal displacements.   When the solid deforms, each node moves to a new position.   For a three
dimensional finite element analysis, the nodal displacements specify the three components of the
displacement field u(x) at each node: (𝑢1 , 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 ).  For a two dimensional analysis, each node has two
displacement components (𝑢1 , 𝑢2 ).  The nodal displacements are unknown at the start of the analysis, and
are computed by the finite element program.

4.       Other nodal degrees of freedom. For more complex analyses, we may wish to calculate a temperature
distribution in the solid, or a voltage distribution, for example.  In this case, each node is also assigned a
temperature, voltage, or similar quantity of interest.  There are also some finite element procedures which
use more than just displacements to describe shape changes in a solid.  For example, when analyzing two
dimensional beams, we use the displacements and rotations of the beam at each nodal point to describe
the deformation.  In this case, each node has a rotation, as well as two displacement components.  The
collection of all unknown quantities (including displacements) at each node are known as degrees of
freedom.  A finite element program will compute values for these unknown degrees of freedom.
 Elements are used to partition the solid into discrete regions.  Elements have the following properties.

1.      An element number.  Every element is assigned an

integer number, which is used to identify the
element.   Just as when numbering nodes, any
convenient scheme may be selected to number
elements.

2.       A geometry.  There are many possible shapes for

an element.  A few of the more common element
types are shown in the picture.  Nodes attached to
the element are shown in red.  In two dimensions,
elements are generally either triangular or
rectangular. In three dimensions, the elements are
generally tetrahedra, hexahedra or bricks.  There are
other types of element that are used for special
purposes: examples include truss elements (which
are simply axial members), beam elements, and
shell elements. 

3.      A set of faces.  These are simply the sides of the

element.

4.           A set of nodes attached to the element.   The

picture on the right shows a typical finite element
mesh.  Element numbers are shown in blue, while
node numbers are shown in red (some element and
node numbers have been omitted for clarity).

All the elements are 8 noded quadrilaterals.  Note that each element is connected to a set of nodes:
element 1 has nodes (41, 45, 5, 1, 43, 25, 3, 21), element 2 has nodes (45, 49, 9, 5, 47, 29, 7, 25), and so on. 
It is conventional to list the nodes the nodes in the order given, with corner nodes first in order going
counterclockwise around the element, followed by the midside nodes.  The set of nodes attached to the
element is known as the element connectivity.
5.      An element interpolation scheme.  The purpose of a finite element is to interpolate
the displacement field u(x) between values defined at the nodes.   This is best
illustrated using an example.  Consider the two dimensional, rectangular 4 noded
element shown in the figure. Let (𝑢1 (𝑎), 𝑢2 (𝑎)), (𝑢1 (𝑏), 𝑢2 (𝑏)), (𝑢1 (𝑐), 𝑢2 (𝑐)), (𝑢1 (𝑑), 𝑢2 (𝑑))
 denote the components of displacement at nodes a, b, c, d.  The displacement at
an arbitrary point within the element can be interpolated between values at the
corners, as follows
𝑢1 = (1 − 𝜉)(1 − 𝜂)𝑢1 (𝑎) + 𝜉(1 − 𝜂)𝑢1 (𝑏) + 𝜉𝜂𝑢1 (𝑐) + (1 − 𝜉)𝜂𝑢1 (𝑑)

𝑢2 = (1 − 𝜉)(1 − 𝜂)𝑢2 (𝑎) + 𝜉(1 − 𝜂)𝑢2 (𝑏) + 𝜉𝜂𝑢2 (𝑐) + (1 − 𝜉)𝜂𝑢2 (𝑑)
where
𝜉 = 𝑥1 / 𝐵, 𝜂 = 𝑥2 / 𝐻
You can verify for yourself that the displacements have the correct values at the corners of the element,
and the displacements evidently vary linearly with position within the element.

Different types of element interpolation scheme exist.  The simple example described above is known as a
linear element.   Six noded triangles and 8 noded triangles are examples of quadratic elements: the
displacement field varies quadratically with position within the element.  In three dimensions, the 4 noded
tetrahedron and the 8 noded brick are linear elements, while the 10 noded tet and 20 noded brick are
quadratic.     Other special elements, such as beam elements or shell elements, use a more complex
procedure to interpolate the displacement field.

Some special types of element interpolate both the displacement field and some or all components of the
stress field within an element separately. (Usually, the displacement interpolation is sufficient to determine
the stress, since one can compute the strains at any point in the element from the displacement, and then
use the stress—strain relation for the material to find the stress). This type of element is known as a hybrid
element.  Hybrid elements are usually used to model incompressible, or nearly incompressible, materials.

6.       Integration points.  One objective of a finite element analysis is to determine the distribution of stress
within a solid.  This is done as follows.  First, the displacements at each node are computed (the technique
used to do this will be discussed in Section 7.2 and Chapter 8.)  Then, the element interpolation functions
are used to determine the displacement at arbitrary points within each element.  The displacement field
 can be differentiated to determine the strains.  Once the strains are known, the stress—strain relations for
the element are used to compute the stresses.
In principle, this procedure could be used to determine the stress at any
point within an element.  However, it turns out to work better at some points
than others.   The special points within an element where stresses are
computed most accurately are known as integration points.  (Stresses are
sampled at these points in the finite element program to evaluate certain
volume and area integrals, hence they are known as integration points).

For a detailed description of the locations of integration points within an

element, you should consult an appropriate user manual.  The approximate
locations of integration points for a few two dimensional elements are
shown in the figure.

There are some special types of element that use fewer integration points than those shown in the picture. 
These are known as reduced integration elements. This type of element is usually less accurate, but must
be used to analyze deformation of incompressible materials (e.g. rubbers or rigid plastic metals).

7.      A stress—strain relation and material properties.  Each element is occupied by solid material.  The type of
material within each element (steel, concrete, soil, rubber, etc) must be specified, together with values for
the appropriate material properties (mass density, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, etc).

2.2.2 Special Elements – Beams, Plates, Shells and Truss elements

If you need to analyze a solid with a special geometry (e.g. a simple truss, a
structure made of one or more slender beams, or plates) it is not efficient to try
to generate a full 3D finite element mesh for each member in the structure.  
Instead, you can take advantage of the geometry to simplify the analysis.

The idea is quite simple.  Instead of trying to calculate the full 3D displacement
field in each member, the deformation is characterized by a reduced set of
degrees of freedom.  Specifically:
1.       For a pin jointed truss, we simply calculate the displacement of each
joint in the structure. The members are assumed to be in a state of
uniaxial tension or compression, so the full displacement field within
each member can be calculated in terms of joint displacements.
2.       For a beam, we calculate the displacement and rotation of the cross section along the beam.  These
can be used to determine the internal shear forces bending moments, and therefore the stresses in the
beam. A three dimensional beam has 3 displacement and 3 rotational degrees of freedom at each
node.
3.           For a plate, or shell, we again calculate the
displacement and rotation of the plate section. A three
dimensional plate or shell has 3 displacement and two
rotational degrees of freedom at each node (these
rotations characterize the rotation of a unit vector
normal to the plate).   In some finite element codes,
nodes on plates and shells have a fictitious third
rotational degree of freedom which is added for
convenience – but you will find that attempting to impose boundary conditions on this fictitious degree
of freedom has no effect on the deformation of the structure.

In an analysis using truss, beam or plate elements, some additional information must be specified to set up
the problem:
1.       For a truss analysis, each member in the truss is a single element.  The area of the member’s cross
section must be specified.
2.      For a beam analysis, the shape and orientation of the cross section must be specified (or, for an elastic
analysis, you could specify the area moments of inertia directly).  There are also several versions of
beam theory, which account differently for shape changes within the beam.   Euler-Bernoulli beam
theory is the simple version covered in introductory courses.   Timoshenko beam theory is a more
complex version, which is better for thicker beams.
3.      For plates and shells, the thickness of the plate must be given.  In addition, the deformation of the plate
can be approximated in various ways –   for example, some versions only account for transverse
deflections, and neglect in-plane shearing and stretching of the plate; more complex theories account
for this behavior.
Calculations using beam and plate theory also differ from full 3D or 2D calculations in that both the deflection
and rotation of the beam or plate must be calculated.  This means that:
1.      Nodes on beam elements have 6 degrees of freedom  – the three displacement components, together
with three angles representing rotation of the cross-section about three axes.  Nodes on plate or shell
elements have 5 (or in some FEA codes 6) degrees of freedom.  The 6 degrees of freedom represent 3
displacement components, and two angles that characterize rotation of the normal to the plate about
two axes (if the nodes have 6 degrees of freedom a third, fictitious rotation component has been
introduced – you will have to read the manual for the code to see what this rotation represents).
2.           Boundary conditions may constrain both displacement and rotational degrees of freedom.   For
example, to model a fully clamped boundary condition at the end of a beam (or the edge of a plate), you
must set all displacements and all rotations to zero.
3.      You can apply both forces and moments to nodes in an analysis.

Finally, in an analysis involving several beams connected together, you can connect the beams in two ways:
1.      You can connect them with a pin joint, which forces the beams to move together at the connection, but
allows relative rotation
2.           You can connect them with a clamped joint, which forces the beams to rotate together at the
connection.

In most FEA codes, you can create the joints by adding constraints, as discussed in Section 1.2.6 below.
Occasionally, you may also wish to connect beam elements to solid, continuum elements in a model: this can
also be done with constraints. 

2.3 Material Behavior

A good finite element code contains a huge library of different

types of material behavior that may be assigned to elements. 
A few examples are described below.

Linear Elasticity.  You should alreadly be familiar with the

idea of a linear elastic material.   It has a uniaxial stress—
strain response (valid only for small strains) as shown in the
picture

The stress--strain law for the material may be expressed in

matrix form as
⎡𝜀11 ⎤ ⎡𝜎 ⎤
⎢ ⎥ ⎡ 1 −𝜈 −𝜈 0 0 0 ⎤⎢ 11 ⎥ ⎡1 ⎤
⎢𝜀 ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 22 ⎥ ⎢−𝜈 1 −𝜈 0 0 𝜎
0 ⎥⎢ 22 ⎥ ⎢1 ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢𝜀33 ⎥ ⎢ 0 ⎥⎢𝜎33 ⎥ ⎢1 ⎥
1 −𝜈 −𝜈 1 0 0
⎢⎢ ⎥⎥ = ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥⎥ + 𝛼𝛥𝑇 ⎢⎢ ⎥⎥
𝐸⎢ ⎥ ⎢
⎢𝜀12 ⎥ ⎢ 0 0 0 1+𝜈 0 0 ⎥⎢𝜎12 ⎥ ⎢0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ 0 0 0 0 1+𝜈 ⎥ ⎢
0 ⎥⎢𝜎13 ⎥ ⎥ ⎢0 ⎥
⎢𝜀13 ⎥ ⎢ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ 0 0 0 0 0 1 + 𝜈⎥⎦⎢𝜎 ⎥ ⎢0 ⎥
⎢⎣𝜀23 ⎥⎦ ⎣ ⎢⎣ 23 ⎥⎦ ⎣ ⎦
Here, E and v are Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio for the material, while 𝛼 denotes the thermal expansion
coefficient.  Typical values (for steel) are E=210 GN/ ,  v=0.33, 𝛼 = 5 × 10 −6 K -1. 

Elastic—plastic material behavior is usually used to model metals that are

subjected to large stresses, but there are also versions of plastic stress-
strain laws that model soils and concrete.

An elastic-plastic material behaves elastically until a critical stress (known as

the yield stress) is reached.   If yield is exceeded, the material deforms
permanently.   The yield stress of the matierial generally increases with
plastic strain: this behavior is known as strain hardening.

The conditions necessary to initiate yielding under multiaxial loading are

specified by a yield criterion, such as the Von-Mises or Tresca criteria.  These
yield criteria are built into the finite element code.
The strain hardening behavior of a material is approximated by allowing the
yield stress to increase with plastic strain.  The variation of yield stress with plastic strain for a material is
usually specified by representing it as a series of straight lines, as shown in the picture.

A typical yield stress for a metal might vary from 80Mpa (for a material like pure aluminum) to 1 GPa (for a
high-strength steel).

Hyperelasticity is intended to model rubbery materials (or elastomeric foams, like a sponge) which have (i) a
reversible stress-v-strain relation and (ii) the stress is independent of strain rate or loading history.   They are
intended to model large changes in shape of the material (that’s what the ‘hyper’ refers to).  This means that
the stress-v-strain relation has to be defined rather carefully, because there are several choices of stress and
strain measure (e.g. we could use ‘true’ stress or ‘nominal’ stress; similarly we could use ‘engineering’ strain or
‘true’ strain).  

The simplest hyperelastic material model is the so-

called ‘neo-Hookean’ material.     This model is
intended to predict the behavior of rubbers, which
resist volume changes, but deform very easily when
subjected to shear stress.     It has two material
properties: (i) a shear modulus 𝜇   , and (ii) a bulk
modulus K.  The bulk modulus is always much greater
than the shear modulus and (especially in hand
calculations) is often assumed to be infinite (which
means the material is incompressible).     In uniaxial
tension, an incompressible neo-Hookean material has a uniaxial stress-v-stretch relation of the form
𝑆 = 𝜇(𝜆 − 𝜆 −2)
where 𝑆 = 𝐹/ 𝐴0   is the nominal stress (force per unit undeformed area) in the specimen, and 𝜆 = 𝑙/ 𝐿0  is the
ratio of deformed length to original length of the specimen.   The curve is shown in the figure.

A typical value for the shear modulus of a rubber might be 0.5MPa.

Linear Viscoelasticity is used to model polymers or biological tissues that are subjected to modest strains
(less than 0.5%).  A typical application might be to model the energy dissipation during cyclic loading of a
polymeric vibration damper, or to model human tissue responding to an electric shaver. 

Viscoelastic materials have a time-dependent response, which can be measured in two different ways:
1.       Take a specimen that is free of stress at time 𝑡 = 0, apply a constant shear stress 𝛥𝜏 for 𝑡 > 0 and
measuring the resulting shear strain 𝜀 as a function of time.  The results are generally presented by
plotting the `creep compliance’ 𝐽(𝑡) = 𝜀(𝑡)/𝛥𝜏 as a function of time.
2.           Take a specimen that is free of stress at time 𝑡 = 0, apply a constant shear strain 𝜀 for 𝑡 > 0   and
measuring the resulting shear stress 𝜏(𝑡) as a function of time. In this case the results are presented by
plotting the Relaxation Modulus: 𝐺(𝑡) = 𝜏(𝑡)/𝛥𝜀
Similar experiments can be done to measure the response of the material to pressure (or volume changes) but
in many practical applications the time-dependence of the pressure or volume is negligible, and the material
can be assumed to have a constant bulk modulus.

In finite element simulations the time dependence of shear (and if necessary bulk) modulus is usually
specified by entering values for the so-called ‘Prony series’ for the material
𝑁
𝐺(𝑡) = 𝐺∞ + ∑ 𝐺𝑖 𝑒 −𝑡/𝑡𝑖
𝑖=1
where 𝐺∞  is the steady-state stiffness (represented by the parallel spring), and
𝐺𝑖 , 𝑡𝑖 𝑖 = 1...𝑁 are a set of time constants and stiffnesses.  The Prony series
can be interpreted as a complicated spring-damper model for the material
behavior.   For example, the spring-damper system shown in the figure is a
useful simple viscoelastic mode.   It has a Prony series
𝐺(𝑡) = 𝑘2 + 𝑘1 𝑒 − 𝑘1 𝑡/𝜂

2.4 Boundary conditions, Constraints, Interfaces and Contact

Boundary conditions are used to specify the loading applied to a solid.  There
are several ways to apply loads to a finite element mesh:

Displacement boundary conditions.  The displacements at any node on the

boundary or within the solid can be specified.  One may prescribe 𝑢1 , 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 , or
all three.  For a two dimensional analysis, it is only necessary to prescribe 𝑢1
 and/or 𝑢2 .

Various symbols are used to denote displacement boundary conditions applied

to a finite element mesh: a few of these are illustrated in the figure on the
right.  Some user-interfaces use small conical arrowheads to indicate constrained displacement components.
For example, to stretch a 2D block of material vertically, while allowing it to expand
or contract freely horizontally, we would apply boundary constraints to the top and
bottom surface as shown in the figure.

Observe that one of the nodes on the bottom of the block has been prevented from
moving horizontally, as well as vertically.   It is important to do this: the finite
element program will be unable to find a unique solution for the displacement fields
if the solid is free to slide horizontally. 

During the analysis, the finite element program will apply forces to the nodes with prescribed displacements,
so as to cause them to move to their required positions.   If only the 𝑢1   component of displacement is
prescribed, then the force will act in the 𝐞1  direction.  If  𝑢2  is prescribed, the force acts in direction 𝐞2 , and so
on. Notice that you cannot directly apply a rotation to a node attached to a 2D or 3D solid.  Rotations can,
however, be applied to the nodes attached to certain special types of element, such as beams, plates and
shells, as well as rigid surfaces.
Symmetry conditions: Most finite element codes can automatically enforce symmetry and anti-symmetry
boundary conditions. 
Prescribed forces. Any node in a finite element mesh may be subjected to a prescribed force.  The nodal
force is a vector, and is specified by its three (or two for 2D) components, (𝐹1 , 𝐹2 , 𝐹3 ).  Notice there is no direct
way to apply a moment to a 3D solid – you would need to do this by applying two point forces a small distance
apart, or by applying contact loading, as outlined below.  Moments can be applied to some special types of
element, such as shells, plates or beams. 
Distributed loads.  A solid may be subjected to distributed pressure or traction acting on ints boundary. 
Examples include aerodynamic loading, or hydrostatic fluid pressure. Distributed traction is a  vector quantity,
with physical dimensions of force per unit area in 3D, and force per unit length in 2D.  To model this type of
loading in a finite element program, distributed loads may be applied to the the face of any element.
Default boundary condition at boundary nodes.  If no displacements or forces are prescribed at a boundary
node, and no distributed loads act on any element faces connected to that node, then the node is assumed to
be free of external force.
Body forces.  External body forces may act on the interior of a solid.  Examples of body forces include
gravitational loading, or electromagnetic forces.  Body force is a vector quantity, with physical dimensions of
force per unit volume.  To model this type of loading in a finite element program, body forces may be applied to
the interior of any element. 
Contact.  Probably the most common way to load a solid is through contact with another solid.   Special
procedures are available for modeling contact between solids – these will be discussed in a separate section
below.
Load history.  In some cases, one may wish to apply a
cycle of load to a solid.   In this case, the prescribed
loads and displacements must be specified as a
function of time.
General guidelines concerning boundary conditions. 
When performing a static analysis, it is very important
to make sure that boundary conditions are applied
properly.   A finite element program can only solve a
problem if a unique static equilibrium solution to the problem exists.

Difficulties arise if the user does not specify sufficient boundary constraints to prevent rigid body motion of a
solid.  This is best illustrated by example.  Suppose we wish to model stretching a 2D solid, as described
earlier.  The examples to the right show two correct ways to do this.

The examples below show various incorrect ways to apply boundary conditions.  In each case, one or more
rigid body mode is unconstrained.
2.4.1  Constraints

You may sometimes need to use more complicated boundary conditions than simply constraining the motion
or loads applied to a solid.  Some examples might be
1.      Connecting different element types, e.g. beam elements to solid elements;
2.      Enforcing periodic boundary conditions
3.      Constraining a boundary to remain flat
4.      Approximating the behavior of mechanical components such as welds, bushings, bolted joints, etc.

You can do this by defining constraints in an analysis.   At the most basic level, constraints can simply be used
to enforce prescribed relationships between the displacements or velocities of individual nodes in the mesh. 
You can also specify relationships between motion of groups of nodes.

2.4.2 Contacting Surfaces and Interfaces

In addition to being subject to forces or prescribed displacements, solid

objects are often loaded by coming into contact with another solid.

Modern finite element codes contain sophisticated capabilities for modeling

contact.  Unfortunately, contact can make a computation much more difficult,
because the region where the two solids come into contact is generally not known a priori, and must be
determined as part of the solution.  This almost always makes the problem nonlinear – even if both contacting
solids are linear elastic materials.  In addition, if there is friction between the contacting solids, the solution is
history dependent.

For this reason, many options are available in finite element packages to control the way contacting surfaces
behave.

There are three general cases of contact that you may need to deal with:
1.      A deformable solid contacts a stiff, hard solid whose deformation may be neglected.  In this case the
hard solid is modeled as a rigid surface, as outlined below.
2.      You may need to model contact between two deformable solids
3.           The solid comes into contact with itself during the course of deformation (this is common in
components made from rubber, for example, and also occurs during some metal forming operations).

Whenever you model contact, you will need to

1.           Specify pairs of surfaces that might come into contact.  One of these must be designated as the
master surface and the other must be designated as the slave surface. (If a surface contacts itself, it is
both a master and a slave.  Kinky!)
2.      Define the way the two surfaces interact, e.g. by specifying the coefficient of friction between them.

Modeling a stiff solid as a rigid surface:  In many cases of practical

interest one of the two contacting solids is much more compliant
than the other.  Examples include a rubber in contact with metal, or a
metal with low yield stress in contact with a hard material like a
ceramic.  As long as the stresses in the stiff or hard solid are not
important, its deformation can be neglected.

In this case the stiffer of the two solids may be idealized as a rigid
surface.  Both 2D and 3D rigid surfaces can be created, as shown in
the figure.

A rigid surface (obviously) can’t change its shape, but it can move
about and rotate.  Its motion is defined using a reference point on the
solid, which behaves like a node.  To move the solid around during an
analyisis, you can define displacement and rotational degrees of freedom at this node.  Alternatively, you could
apply forces and moments to the reference point.   Finally, in a dynamic analysis, you can give the rigid solid
appropriate inertial properties (so as to create a rigid projectile, for example).

Defining a contact pair – master/slave surfaces: Whenever you set up a

finite element calculation that involves contact, you need to specify pairs
of surfaces that may come into contact during the analysis.  One of each
pair must be designated the master surface, the other must be designated
the slave surface.

This rather obscure finite element terminology refers to the way that
contact constraints are actually applied during a computation.   The
geometry of the master surface will be interpolated as a smooth curve in
some way (usually by interpolating between nodes).  The slave surface is not interpolated.  Instead, each
individual node on the slave surface is constrained so as not to penetrate into the master surface.   For
example, the red nodes on the slave surface shown in the figure would be forced to remain outside the red
boundary of the master surface.

For a sufficiently fine mesh, the results should not be affected by your choice of master and slave surface. 
However, it improves convergence (see below to learn what this means) if you choose the more rigid of the two
surfaces to be the master surface.  If you don’t know which surface is more rigid, just make a random choice. 
If you run into convergence problems later, try switching them over.

Contact parameters You can define several parameters that control the behavior of two contacting surfaces:
1.       The contact formulation - `finite sliding’ or `small sliding’ – specifies the expected relative tangential
displacement of the two surfaces.  `Finite sliding’ is the most general, but is computationally more
demanding.  `Small sliding’ should be used if the relative tangential displacement is likely to be less
than the distance between two adjacent nodes.
2.      You can specify the relationship between the contact pressure and separation between the contacting
surfaces. Alternatively, you can assume the contact is `hard’ – this means the interface can’t withstand
any tension, and the two contacting surfaces cannot inter-penetrate. 
3.      You can specify the tangential behavior of the interface – for example by giving the friction coefficient.

2.5 Initial Conditions and external fields

For a dynamic analysis, it is necessary to specify the initial velocity and displacement of each node in the
solid.  The default value is zero velocity and displacement.

In addition, if you are solving a coupled problem –   one involving coupled deformation and heat flow, for
example - you may need to specify initial values for the additional field variables (e.g. the temperature
distribution)

2.6 Solution procedures and time increments

The finite element method calculates the displacement 𝐮(𝐱 𝑎) at each node in the finite element mesh by
solving the equations of static equilibrium or the equations of motion.  In this section, we briefly outline some
of the solution procedures, and the options available to control them.

Linear or Nonlinear Geometry As you know, you can simplify the calculation of internal forces in a structures
by neglecting shape changes when solving the equations of equilibrium.  For example, when you solve a truss
problem, you usually calculate forces in each member based on the undeformed shape of the structure.

You can use the same idea to simplify calculations involving deformable solids.  In general, you should do so
whenever possible.  However, if either
1.      You anticipate that material might stretch by more than 10% or so or
2.      You expect that some part of the solid might rotate by more than about 10 degrees
3.      You wish to calculate buckling loads for your structure
you should account for finite geometry changes in the computation.   This will automatically make your
calculation nonlinear (and so more difficult), even if all the materials have linear stress-strain relations.

Time stepping for dynamic problems: For a dynamic problem, the nodal displacements 𝐮(𝐱 𝑎, 𝑡) must be
calculated as a function of time.  The displacements are calculated by solving the equations of motion for the
system, which look something like
𝑑2 𝐮
𝐌 + 𝐊𝐮 = 𝐅(𝑡)
𝑑𝑡 2
where M and K are called mass and stiffness matrices.  Both M and K can be functions of u.  There are 2.5
ways to integrate this equation.

1.      The most direct method is called explicit time integration, or explicit dynamics and works something
like this.  Remember that for a dynamic calculation, the values of u and 𝐯 = 𝑑 𝐮 /𝑑𝑡 are known at t=0.  We
can therefore compute M and K at time t=0, and then use them to calculate the acceleration
𝐚 = 𝑑 2 𝐮 /𝑑𝑡 2 at t=0, as
𝐚 = 𝐌 −1(𝐅(𝑡) − 𝐊𝐮)
The acceleration can then be used to find the velocity 𝐯(𝛥𝑡) and displacement 𝐮(𝛥𝑡) at time 𝛥𝑡 as
1
𝐯(𝛥𝑡) = 𝐯(0) + 𝐚 𝛥𝑡 𝐮(𝛥𝑡) = 𝐮(0) + 𝐯(0)𝛥𝑡 + 2 𝐚 𝛥𝑡 2
This procedure can then be applied repeatedly to march the solution through time.
2.       The second procedure is called implicit time integration or implicit dynamics.  The procedure is very
similar to explicit time integration, except that instead of calculating the mass and stiffness matrices at
time t=0, and using them to calculate acceleration at t=0, these quantities are calculated at time 𝛥𝑡
 instead.  This is a bit more time consuming to do, however, because it involves more equation solving.  
3.       The 2.5th method is called Modal Dynamics and only works if M and K are constant. In this case one
can take the Fourier transform of the governing equation and integrate it exactly.  This method is used
to solve linear vibration problems.

The following guidelines will help you to choose the most appropriate method for your application:

1.      For explicit dynamics each time step can be calculated very fast.  However, the method is stable only if
𝛥𝑡 is very small – specifically, the time interval must be smaller than the time taken for an elastic wave
√
to propagate from one side of an element to the other.  This gives 𝛥𝑡 < 𝐿 𝜌(1 − 2𝜈)/2𝜇(1 − 𝜈), where
𝜌 is the mass density of the solid, 𝜇 is its shear modulus and 𝜈 its Poisson’s ratio.   Explicit dynamics
works best for rapid, transient problems like crash dynamics or impact.  It is not good for modeling
processes that take place over a long time.  If elastic wave propagation is not the main focus of your
computation, you can sometime speed up the calculations by increasing the density 𝜌 (but you have to
be careful to make sure this does not affect the results).  This is called mass scaling.
2.           For implicit dynamics the cost of computing each time step is much greater.   The algorithm is
unconditionally stable, however, and will always converge even for very large 𝛥𝑡.  This is the method of
choice for problems where inertial loading is important, but rapid transients are not the focus of the
analysis.  
3.      Modal Dynamics only works for linear elastic problems.  It is used for vibration analysis.

Nonlinear Solution Procedures for Static Problems: If a problem involves contact, plastically deforming
materials, or large geometry changes it is nonlinear.  This means that the equations of static equilibrium for
the finite element mesh have the general form
𝐅 (𝑏)(𝐮 (𝑎)) = 𝟎
where F() denotes a set of b=1,2…N vector functions of the nodal displacements 𝐮(𝐱 𝑎), a=1,2…N, and N is the
number of nodes in the mesh.

The nonlinear equations are solved using the Newton-Raphson method, which works like this.  You first guess
the solution to the equations –   say 𝐮 𝑎 = 𝐰 (𝑎).   Of course (unless you are a genius) w won’t satisfy the
equations, so you try to improve the solution by adding a small correction 𝑑 𝐰.  Ideally, the correction should be
chosen so that
𝐅 (𝑏)(𝐰 (𝑎) + 𝑑 𝐰 𝑎) = 𝟎
but of course it’s not possible to do this.  So instead, take a Taylor expansion to get
𝑑𝐅 ( 𝐮)
(𝑏)
𝐅 (𝑏)(𝐰 (𝑎) + 𝑑 𝐰 𝑎) ≈ 𝐅 (𝑏)(𝐰 (𝑎)) + 𝑑 𝐰 (𝑎) = 𝟎
𝑑 𝐮 (𝑎)
The result is a system of linear equations of the form 𝐅 (𝑏) + 𝐊 𝑑 𝐰 (𝑎) = 𝟎, where 𝐊 = 𝑑 𝐅 (𝑏) /𝑑 𝐮 (𝑎)  is a constant
matrix called the stiffness matrix.  The equations can now be solved for 𝑑 𝐰; the guess for w can be corrected,
and the procedure applied over again.   The iteration is repeated until ||𝐅 (𝑏)(𝐮 (𝑎))|| < 𝜀, where 𝜀   is a small
tolerance.

In problems involving hard contact, an additional iterative method is used to decide which nodes on the slave
surface contact the master surface.   This is just a brute-force method –   it starts with some guess for
contacting nodes; gets a solution, and checks it.  If any nodes are found to penetrate the master surface, these
are added to the list of nodes in contact.  If any nodes are experiencing forces attracting them to the master
surface, they are removed from the list of nodes in contact.

The problem with any iterative procedure is that it may not converge – that is, repeated corrections 𝑑 𝐰  either
take the solution further and further away from the solution, or else just spiral around the solution without
every reaching it.
The solution is (naturally) more likely to converge if the guess 𝐰 (𝑎) is close to the correct solution.  
Consequently, it is best to apply the loads to a nonlinear solid gradually, so that at each load step the
displacements are small.  The solution to one load increment can then be used as the initial guess for the next.

Convergence problems are the curse of FEM analysts.  They are very common and can be exceedingly difficult
to resolve.  Here are some suggestions for things to try if you run into convergence problems:
1.      Try applying the load in smaller increments.  most commercial codes will do this this automatically –
 but will stop the computation if the increment size falls below a minimum value.  You can try reducing
the minimum step size..
2.       Convergence problems are sometimes caused by ill conditioning in the stiffness matrix.  This means
that the equations 𝐅 (𝑏) + 𝐊 𝑑 𝐰 (𝑎) = 𝟎 cannot be solved accurately.  Ill conditioning can arise because of
(i) severely distorted elements in the mesh; (ii) material behavior is incompressible, or nearly
incompressible; and (iii) The boundary conditions in the analysis do not properly constrain the solid.
You can fix (i) by modifying the mesh – some FEM codes contain capabilities to automatically remove
element distorsion during large deformation. You can avoid problems with incompressibility (ii) by
using reduced integration elements or hybrid elements.  Problems with boundary conditions (iii) can
usually be corrected by adding more constraints.  There is one common problem where this is hard to
do – if the motion of a body in your analysis is constrained only by contacts with other solids (e.g. a
roller between two surfaces) the stiffness matrix is always singular at the start of the analysis.  Some
finite element codes contain special procedures to deal with this problem.
3.      Try to isolate the source of the problem.  Convergence issues can often be traced to one or more of the
following: (i) Severe material nonlinearity; (ii) Contact and (iii) Geometric nonlinearity.  Try to change
your model to remove as many of these as possible – e.g. if you are doing a plasticity computation with
contact and geometric nonlinearity, try doing an elastic calculation and see if it works.   If so, the
problems are caused by material nonlinearity.   Similarly, try analyzing the two contacting solids
separately, without the contact; or try the computation without nonlinear geometry.  Once you’ve traced
the source of the problem, you might be able to fix it by changing the material properties, contact
properties or loading conditions.
4.       Convergence problems are often caused by some kind of mechanical or material failure in the solid,
which involve a sudden release of energy.  In this case, the shape of the solid may suddenly jump from
one static equilibrium configuration to another, quite different, equilibrium configuration.  There is a
special type of loading procedure (called the Riks method) that can be used to stabilize this kind of
problem.
5.      Some boundary value problems have badly behaved governing equations.  For example, the equations
governing plane strain deformation of a perfectly plastic solid become hyperbolic for sufficiently large
strains.  Static FEM simply won’t work for these problems.  Your best bet is to try an explicit dynamic
calculation instead, perhaps using mass scaling to speed up the calculation.

Load steps and increments: When you set up a finite

element model, you usually apply the load in a series of
steps.  You can define different boundary conditions in
each step.  Unless you specify otherwise, the loads (or
displacements) will vary linearly from their values at the
start of the step to their values at the end of the step, as
illustrated in the picture.

In a nonlinear analysis, the solution may not converge if

the load is applied in a single increment.  If this is the case, the load must be applied gradually, in a series of
smaller increments.  Many finite element codes will automatically reduce the time step if the solution fails to
converge.

2.7 Output

The finite element method always calculates the displacement of each node in the mesh –   these are the
unknown variables in the computation.  However, these may not be the quantities you are really interested in. 
A number of quantities can be computed from the displacement fields, including:
1.      Velocity and acceleration fields
2.      Strain components, principal strains, and strain invariants,or their rates
3.      Elastic and plastic strains or strain rates
4.      Stress components; principal stresses; stress invariants
5.      Forces applied to nodes or boundaries
6.      Contact pressures
7.      Values of material state variables (e.g. yield stresses)
8.      Material failure criteria
All these quantities can be computed as functions of time at selected points in the mesh (either at nodes, or at
element integration points); as functions of position along paths connecting nodes; or as contour plots.

2.8 Units in finite element computations, using dimensional analysis

A finite element code merely solves the equations of motion (or equilibrium), together with any equations
governing material behavior.  Naturally, equations like F=ma and 𝜎 = 𝐸𝜀 do not contain any units a priori.  
Consequently, when entering geometric dimensions, material data and loads into an FEA code, you can use
any system of units you like, but the units of all quantities must be consistent.  You have to be very careful
with this.  When you sketch the part you are modeling, it is often convenient to enter dimensions in cm, inches,
or mm.  This is fine – but then cm, inches or mm must be used for any other material or load data that contain
length dimensions.  For example, if you use cm to dimension your part, then you must enter data for Young’s
modulus and yield stress in 𝑁 /𝑐𝑚 2, and you must also specify pressures acting on the system in  𝑁 /𝑐𝑚 2.  In
this case, the FEA code will report stresses in units of 𝑁 /𝑐𝑚 2.

Using Dimensional Analysis to simplify FEA analysis.

You may have used dimensional analysis to find relationships between data
measured in an experiment (especially in fluid mechanics).  The same idea can
be used to relate variables you might compute in an FEA analysis (e.g. stress), to
the material properties of your part (e.g. Young’s modulus) and the applied
loading.

The basic idea is simple, and is best illustrated by example.  Suppose we wish to
use FEA to calculate the deflection of the tip of a cantilever with length L, Young’s modulus E and area moment
of inertia I, which is subjected to a force P.  We would set this up as an FEA problem, entering data for L, E, I,
and P in the code, and computing 𝛿.  We could express the functional relationship as
                                                                  𝛿 = 𝑓 (𝐸, 𝐼, 𝑃, 𝐿)
If we were asked to calculate the function f numerically, we would have to
run simulations where we vary E, I, L and P independently. This would be
very painful. Fortunately, since the relationship must be independent of the
system of units, we know we can re-write this expression so that both left
and right hand side are dimensionless – i.e. as combinations of variables
that have no units.  Noting that 𝛿 and L have dimensions of length, I has
dimensions of length 4, P has dimensions mass × length/time 2  and E has
dimensions of mass/(length × time 2), we could put
𝛿 𝑃 𝐿4
𝐿
= 𝑔( , 𝐼
)
𝐸𝐿 2
Now, we only need to calculate the function g.  We could do this by keeping L and I fixed, and varying P to see
the results of varying the first group; we could then keep P and L fixed and vary I to see the effect of varying the
second group.  The results could be displayed graphically as shown in the figure.

If we had done a linear analysis (no nonlinear geometric effects) the curves would be straight lines.

There is often more than one choice of dimensionless group, and some are better than others.  For example,
for the beam problem we could create a new dimensionless group by multiplying together the two groups in
the function g – this gives
𝛿 𝑃𝐿 2 𝐿 4
𝐿
= ℎ( 𝐸𝐼
, 𝐼 )
This turns out to be a much better choice. In fact, if we conducted a linear
analysis we would find that the function h is independent of 𝐿 4 / 𝐼.  In this
case the data would collapse onto a single master-curve as shown in the
figure. 

Unfortunately, dimensional analysis alone will not tell you the best
dimensionless groups.  You have to use your physical intuition to identify them.  For the beam example, you
might remember that E and I always appear as the product EI in the governing equations – so it makes sense
to try to find dimensionless groups that combine them in this way.   In other examples, you may see some
physical significance of combinations of variables (they might look like a kinetic energy, or a pressure, for
example) which might help you to choose the best set. 

The beauty of using dimensional analysis to simplify numerical simulations is that, unlike in experiments, you
don’t need to guess what variables influence the results.  You know exactly what they are, because you typed
them into the program!
The following steps (known as the Buckingham Pi theorem) will tell you how many dimensionless groups to
look for:
1.       List the variable you are computing, and also the variables you entered into the code to define the
problem.  Count the total number of variables and call it n
2.           List the dimensions, in terms of fundamental units (i.e. mass, length, time, electric current, and
luminous intensity) of all the variables
3.       Count the number of independent fundamental units that appear in the problem (e.g. if mass, length
and time appear independently, then there are 3 different units) and call the number k.   Units are
independent if they don’t always appear in the same combination.  For example, in our beam problem
mass and time are not independent, because they appear together as mass/time 2 in both P and E.  The
beam problem has length, and mass/time 2 as two independent combinations of fundamental units.
4.      A total of n-k independent dimensionless groups must appear in the dimensionless relationship.
For the beam problem, we had 5 variables 𝛿, 𝐸, 𝐼, 𝑃, 𝐿, and two independent combinations of fundamental
units, so we expect to see three dimensionless groups – which is precisely what we got. 

Simplifying FEA analysis by scaling the governing equations

An alternative approach to identifying the dimensionless parameters that control

the solution to a problem is to express the governing equations themselves in
dimensionless form.   This is a much more powerful technique, but is also
somewhat more difficult to use.

We can illustrate the procedure using our beam problem again.  Let x measure
distance along the beam, and let w denote its vertical deflection.   You may
remember that linear Euler-Bernoulli beam theory gives the following governing equation for w
𝑑 4𝑤
𝐸𝐼 =0
𝑑𝑥 4
(the right hand side vanishes because no forces act on 0<x<L) while the boundary conditions are
𝑑 2𝑤 ⎫
𝑤=0 (no deflection at wall)⎫ 𝐸𝐼 2 = 0 (no moment at free end)⎪
⎪⎬ 𝑑𝑥
⎪⎬ 𝑥 = 𝐿
𝑑𝑤 𝑥 = 0              
= 0      (no rotation at wall) ⎪ 𝑑 3𝑤 ⎪
𝑑𝑥 ⎭ 𝐸𝐼 3 = 𝑃      (Shear force equal to 𝑃) ⎪
𝑑𝑥 ⎭
(If you don’t remember these it doesn’t matter – it’s the scaling discussed below that’s important). 

We now re-write the equations so that they are dimensionless.  We aways start by replacing all field variables
(in this case w and x) with dimensionless quantities.   In this case we could use 𝜉 = 𝑥/ 𝐿 ^
𝑤 = 𝑤/ 𝐿.
Substituting 𝑥 = 𝜉𝐿 𝑤=^ 𝑤 𝐿 gives
𝐸𝐼 𝑑 4^
𝑤
=0
𝐿 3 𝑑𝜉 4

𝐸𝐼 𝑑 2^ ⎫
(no deflection at wall)⎫⎪
𝑤
^=0
𝐿𝑤 𝐿 𝑑𝜉 2
=0 (no moment at free end)⎪
⎬𝜉 = 0               ⎪⎬𝜉 = 1
^
𝑑𝑤
= 0      (no rotation at wall) ⎪ 𝐸𝐼 𝑑 3^
𝑤
= 𝑃      (Shear force equal to 𝑃) ⎪
⎪
𝑑𝜉 ⎭ 𝐿 2 𝑑𝜉 3 ⎭
We now look and see if we can make further simplifications.  Our objective is to remove as many material and
geometric parameters from the equations as possible, by defining new dimensionless field variables or
introducing dimensionless combinations of material or geometric variables.  In this case, we see that if we
define a new dimensionless displacement W so that
𝑊 𝑃𝐿 2 /(𝐸𝐼) = ^
𝑤
substitute, and cancel as many terms as possible, the governing equations become
𝑑 4𝑊
=0
𝑑𝜉 4

𝑑 2𝑊 ⎫
𝑊 =0 (no deflection at wall)⎫ 𝑑𝜉 2
=0 (no moment at free end)⎪
⎪⎬ = ⎪⎬𝜉 = 1
𝑑𝑊 𝜉 0              
= 0      (no rotation at wall) ⎪ 𝑑 3𝑊 ⎪
𝑑𝜉 ⎭ = 1      (Shear force equal to 𝑃) ⎪
𝑑𝜉 3 ⎭
In this form, the governing equations contain absolutely no material or geometric parameters.  The solution for
W must therefore be independent of L,E,I or P.  We can solve the equation just once, and then work out the tip
deflection from the value of W at 𝜉 = 1.  Specifically,
^(𝜉 = 1) = 𝑃𝐿 3
𝛿 = 𝑤(𝑥 = 𝐿) = 𝐿𝑤 𝐸𝐼
𝑊 (𝜉 = 1)

This scaling procedure is the best way to simplify numerical computations.  It is more difficult to apply than
dimensional analysis, however, and it is possible (although perhaps not a good idea) to run an FEA simulation
of a problem where you don’t actually know the governing equations! In this case you should just use standard
dimensional analysis to try to simplify the problem.