FEM Terminology

Monday, February 22, 2021 11:00 AM

• Continuous domain
• Finite domain
• Analytical / Exact solution
• Numerical / Approximate solution
• Governing differential equations, Close-form solutions
• Set of simultaneous algebraic equations
• Stiffness matrix [K], Load vector {F}, Displacement vector {u}
• Primary/state variables
• Dependent or secondary variables
• Discretization
○ Spatial (i.e. space)
○ Temporal (i.e. time)
• Subdomain or Finite element (i.e. shortly called element)
• Nodes
• Process
• Solution
• Post process

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Element Types
Monday, February 22, 2021 11:01 AM

Classification of Mechanical Elements

• Primitive Elements:
○ Resemble fabricated structural components & cannot be decompose into simpler elements
○ Derived from Mechanics of Material theories and better understood from physical rather
than mathematical perspective
○ Examples:bars, cables, beams, shafts, spars.

• Continuum Elements
○ Do not resemble fabricated structural component
○ Better understood by their mathematical interpretation
○ Examples: plates, slices, shells, axisymmetric solids, general solids
 Nodes has dual purpose to define an element

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  Nodes has dual purpose to define an element
□ Geometry
 Response (i.e. degree of freedom)

• Special Elements
○ Have characteristics of structural and continuum elements.
○ Derived from a continuum mechanics standpoint but include features closely related to the
physics of the problem.
○ Examples: crack elements for fracture mechanics applications, shear panels, infinite and
semi-infinite elements, contact and penalty elements, rigid-body elements.

• Macroelements
○ Combining structure features to simplify preprocessing tasks
○ Bottom-up approach

• Substructures
○ Dividing complete structure into functional components for detail analysis
○ Top-down approach
○ Superelement: is often used in a collective sense to embrace element groupings that range
from macroelements to substructures.

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Element Properties
Monday, February 22, 2021 11:01 AM

• Element Nodes
○ Vertices of an element are called nodes
○ Nodes has dual purpose to define an element
 Geometry
 Response (i.e. degree of freedom)

• Element Geometry
○ Geometry of element is defined by the placement of nodes
○ Can have intrinsic dimensionality of one, two or three space dimensions
○ Some special elements may have zero dimensionality, such as lumped springs or point
masses.
• Element Response
○ Element response is defined by the nodal attributes
 Nodal degree of freedom {u}
□ primary variables in the mathematical model
□ For mechanical elements, primary variable is displacement (dof)
□ For thermal elements, primary variable is temperature (dof)
 Nodal forces {f}
□ There is always one-to-one correspondence with nodal degree of freedom
 Constitutive Property
□ Relation between nodal degree of freedom & nodal forces i.e. {f} = [k]{u}

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Elements in Commercial tools
Monday, February 22, 2021 1:08 PM

• ABAQUS

• ANSYS

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• ANSYS

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Characterization of an Element
Monday, February 22, 2021 1:41 PM

1. Family
○ Element families that are used most commonly in a stress analysis and fluid analysis. One of
the major distinctions between different element families is the geometry type that each
family assumes.

2. Degrees of freedom (directly related to the element family)

○ Fundamental variables calculated during the analysis
○ For a stress/displacement simulation the degrees of freedom are the translations and, for
shell, pipe, and beam elements, the rotations at each node.
○ For a heat transfer simulation the degrees of freedom are the temperatures at each node;
for a coupled thermal-stress analysis temperature degrees of freedom exist in addition to
displacement degrees of freedom at each node.
○ List of dofs

3. Number of nodes
○ Displacements or other degrees of freedom are calculated at the nodes of the element. At
any other point in the element, the displacements are obtained by interpolating from the
nodal displacements. Usually the interpolation order is determined by the number of nodes
used in the element.

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4. Formulation
○ An element's formulation refers to the mathematical theory used to define the element's
behavior. In the Lagrangian, or material, description of behavior the element deforms with
the material.
○ In the alternative Eulerian, or spatial, description elements are fixed in space as the material
flows through them. Eulerian methods are used commonly in fluid mechanics simulations.
5. Integration
○ Numerical integration of various quantities over the volume of each element, thus allowing
complete generality in material behavior. Using Gaussian quadrature for most elements.

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