Finite Element Methods

19A01801a1

By
Prof. D.Neeraja
HCED/HFDT
UNIT –I
INTRODUCTION: Concepts of FEM – Steps involved – Merits & Demerits – Energy Principles
– Discretization – Rayleigh –Ritz method of functional approximation.
PRINCIPLES OF ELASTICITY: Equilibrium equations – strain displacement relationships in
matrix form – Constitutive relationships for plane stress, plane strain and Axi-symmetric bodies
of revolution with axi-symmetric loading.
 
UNIT –II
ONE DIMENSIONAL & TWO DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS: Stiffness matrix for bar element –
shape functions for one dimensional elements – one dimensional problems .Two Dimensional
Elements - Different types of elements for plane stress and plane strain analysis –
Displacement models – generalized coordinates – shape functions – convergent and
compatibility requirements – Geometric invariance – Natural coordinate system – area and
volume coordinates
 
UNIT –III
GENERATION OF ELEMENT : Generation of element stiffness and nodal load matrices for 3-
node triangular element and four noded rectangular elements.
 
UNIT –IV
ISOPARAMETRIC FORMULATION:
Concepts of, isoparametric elements for 2D analysis –formulation of CST element, 4 –Noded
and 8-noded iso-parametric quadrilateral elements –Lagrangian and Serendipity elements.
 
AXI-SYMMETRIC ANALYSIS: Basic principles-Formulation of 4-noded iso-parametric axi-
symmetric element
 
UNIT-V
SOLUTION TECHNIQUES: Numerical Integration, Static condensation, assembly of elements
and solution techniques for static loads.
TEXT BOOKS:
1. Finite Element Analysis for Engineering and Technology, Tirupathi R Chandraputla,
Universities Press Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad. 2003.
2. Finite Element analysis – Theory & Programming by C.S.Krishna Murthy- Tata
Mc.Graw Hill Publishers
3. Finite Element Methods by R.Dhanaraj& K.Prabhakar Nair, Oxford Publishers.
 
REFERENCES:
4. Finite Element Methods in Civil Engineering by M.Rama Narasimha Reddy,
Dr.K.Sreenivasu Reddy, D.Srinivasulu Reddy, Sci-Tech Publications Pvt.Ltd.
5. Finite Element Analysis And Procedures In Engineering by H.V.Lakshminaryana, 3rd
Edition, Universities Press, Hyderabad.
6. A First Course in the Finite Element Methods by Daryl Logan, Cengage Publishers.
7. Finite Element Analysis in Engineering Design by S.Rajasekharan, S.Chand
Publications, New Delhi.
8. Finite Element Analysis By S.S. Bhavakatti-New Age International Publishers
Text Books
1. C.S.Krishnamoorthy, (2012), Finite Element
Analysis, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd.
References
1. Cook R.D., Malkas D.S. & Plesha M.E, (1999),
Concepts and applications of Finite element
analysis, John Wiley & Sons.
2. Reddy, (2002), Finite Element Methods, Tata
McGraw Hill Co.
3. Zeinkeiwich O.C., (2003), The finite element
method in Engineering Science, Tata McGraw-Hill.
 Need for Computational Methods

•Solutions Using Either Strength of Materials or Theory of

Elasticity Are Normally Accomplished for Regions and
Loadings With Relatively Simple Geometry
• Many Applications Involve Cases with Complex Shape,
Boundary Conditions and Material Behavior
• Therefore a Gap Exists Between What Is Needed in
Applications and What Can Be Solved by Analytical Closed-
form Methods
• This Has Lead to the Development of Several
Numerical/Computational Schemes Including: Finite
Difference, Finite Element and Boundary Element Methods
 Numerical Methods
• Finite Element Method
• Boundary Element Method
• Finite Difference Method
• Finite Volume Method
• Meshless Method
The Finite Element Method (FEM) is a numerical
technique.

It was originated to solve complex elasticity and

structural analysis problems in Civil, Mechanical,
Aircraft, Biomedical Engg and Aerospace engineering.

 In a structural simulation, FEM helps in producing

stiffness and strength visualizations.

 It also helps to minimize material weight and its

cost of the structures.
FEM allows for detailed visualization and indicates
the distribution of stresses and strains inside the
body of a structure.

Several modern FEM packages include specific

components such as fluid, thermal, electromagnetic
and structural working environments.

FEM allows entire designs to be constructed,

refined and optimized before the design is
manufactured.
•FEM is a powerful tool in Engineering.
•There are many computational packages that use FEM,
among them we have Ansys, Cosmos and Algor
What is FEA ?
A complex problem is divided into a smaller and simpler
problems that can be solved by using the existing knowledge
of mechanics of materials and mathematical tools
Why FEA ?
Modern mechanical design involves complicated shapes,
sometimes made of different materials that as a whole cannot
be solved by existing mathematical tools. Engineers need the
FEA to evaluate their designs.
Finite Element
=
Discrete structural description of continua
with help of mathematical formulations
Typical FEA Procedure by
Commercial Software
 Advantages of Finite Element Analysis
- Models Bodies of Complex Shape
- Can Handle General Loading/Boundary Conditions
- Models Bodies Composed of Composite and Multiphase

Materials
- Model is Easily Refined for Improved Accuracy by
Varying Element Size and Type
- Time Dependent and Dynamic Effects Can Be Included
- Can Handle a Variety Nonlinear Effects Including
Material Behavior, Large Deformations, Boundary
Conditions, Etc.
Disadvantages
BACK GROUND AND DESCRIPTION OF THE
METHOD
Historical Background
 Historical Background

• Hrenikoff, 1941 – “frame work method”

• Courant, 1943 – “piecewise polynomial
interpolation”
• Turner, 1956 – derived stiffness matrice for
truss, beam, etc
• Clough, 1960 – coined the term “finite
element”
 Chronicle of Finite Element Method
Year Scholar Theory

1941 Hrennikoff Presented a solution of elasticity problem using one-dimensional elements.

1943 McHenry Same as above.

1943 Courant Introduced shape functions over triangular subregions to model the whole region.

1947 Levy Developed the force (flexibility) method for structure problem.

1953 Levy Developed the displacement (stiffness) method for structure problem.

1954 Argyris & Kelsey Developed matrix structural analysis methods using energy principles.

1956 Turner, Clough, Martin, Derived stiffness matrices for truss, beam and 2D plane stress elements. Direct stiffness method.
Topp

1960 Clough Introduced the phrase finite element .

1960 Turner et. al Large deflection and thermal analysis.

1961 Melosh Developed plate bending element stiffness matrix.

1961 Martin Developed the tetrahedral stiffness matrix for 3D problems.

1962 Gallagher et al Material nonlinearity.

Chronicle of Finite Element Method
Year Scholar Theory

1963 Grafton, Strome Developed curved-shell bending element stiffness matrix.

1963 Melosh Applied variational formulation to solve nonstructural problems.

1965 Clough et. al 3D elements of axisymmetric solids.

1967 Zienkiewicz et. Published the first book on finite element.

1968 Zienkiewicz et. Visco-elasticity problems.

1969 Szabo & Lee Adapted weighted residual methods in structural analysis.

1972 Oden Book on nonlinear continua.

1976 Belytschko Large-displacement nonlinear dynamic behavior.

~1997   New element development, convergence studies, the developments of supercomputers,

the availability of powerful microcomputers, the development of user-friendly general-
purpose finite element software packages.
 List of FEM Software

General purpose finite

DIANA FEA element package utilised DIANA FEA BV, The
by civil, structural and Netherlands
geotechnical engineers.

MATLAB Toolbox for solving

MATLAB Partial Differential structural, thermal,
MathWorks
Equation Toolbox electromagnetics, and
other general PDEs

Advanced Franco-USA
software from SIMULIA,
Abaqus owned by Dassault Abaqus Inc.
Systemes

Finite element software for

structural, fluid, heat
transfer, electromagnetic,
ADINA and multiphysics problems, Adina R&D
including fluid-structure
interaction and thermo-
mechanical coupling
 BIM software for FEM
structural analysis,
Advance Design GRAITEC
including international
design eurocodes

Autodesk Simulation Finite Element software of Autodesk

Autodesk

ANSYS US-based and -developed Ansys Inc.

full CAE software package
Best known for explicit LSTC - Livermore Software
LS-DYNA
dynamics / crash analysis Technology Corporation
Finite element software for
structural, geotechnical,
VisualFEA Intuition Software
heat transfer and seepage
analysis

Originally developed for

NASA, now available MSC NASTRAN, Siemens
Nastran
commercially from several PLM NX Nastran[
software companies
With the development of finite element
method, together with tremendous increase
in computing power and convenience, today
it is possible to understand structural
behavior with levels of accuracy.

This was in fact beyond imagination before

the computer age.
Theory and concepts
 Theoretical Background
A given problem is discretized by dividing the original
domain into simply shaped subdomains, the so called
elements.

Each element it quite simple, and the program can

figure out its mechanical properties quite easily
By summation of all the element contributions one
gets the whole model behavior
 Terminology
 Each element is connected to its neighbor only at a
number of points, called nodes

 Each node has 6 independent possibilities to move: 3

translational and 3 rotational

 These independent possibilities to move are called

degrees of freedom (DOF’s)
 Terminology
Y

Ry ,My
Translations
Tx, Ty, and Tz (1, 2, and 3)
Ty ,Fy
Rotations
Rx ,Mx
Rx, Ry, and Rz (4, 5, and 6)
Tz ,Fz
Forces Tx ,Fx X
Fx, Fy, and Fz
Rz ,Mz
Moments
Mx, My, and Mz Z Cartesian Coordinate System
(u, v, w )and represent displacement and rotation respectively.
 How does FEM work?
Calculate the area of a
circle

 Solve a number of simple problems, add them all up

and get the answer of a complex problem
 Divide a complex problem into simple ones
 Divide complex geometry into simple objects which
we can understand (Lines, Squares, Cubes)
 Use the computer to do millions (and millions, …)
of numerical operations
 Use modern hardware equipment to present the
results graphically
 Steps in an FE Analysis
Geometry

Elements Displacements
Stresses
Loads Forces
Strains

Analysis
Solver Analysis Results
Model

Contour Plots
Constraints X-Y-Plots
Listings
Materials

Properties
 The Software Returns:
Static or time-dependent:
 Deformations
 Stresses
 Strains
Others:
 Eigenfrequencies
 Stability/Buckling Load Factors
Other Types of Analysis will Return other Results
Applications of Finite Element Methods

 Structural & Stress Analysis

 Thermal Analysis
 Dynamic Analysis
 Acoustic Analysis
 Electro-Magnetic Analysis
 Manufacturing Processes
 Fluid Dynamics
• What an FEA user has to specify :

– Choose the element type

– Creation of the Finite Element Mesh
– Specification of the material properties
– Specification of the element properties
– Verification of the Mesh quality
– Application of the loads and boundary conditions
– Specification of the options of the desired analysis type
– Request of the desired results
– Interpretation of the results
Two-Dimensional Discretization Refinement

(Node)


(Discretization with 228 Elements)



(Triangular Element)

(Discretization with 912 Elements)

A mesh of solid A mesh of tetrahedral p-
tetrahedral (4 nodes) h- elements produced by
elements MECHANICA
 aly
A n
ent ey (
le m mn
E h i
ite r a c
n
Fi s fo S)
si NSY
A
Finite Element Analysis for Shear Wall/ Beam joint
A shear wall is a general term
for a wall that is designed and
constructed to resist racking
from forces such as wind using
masonry, concrete, cold-
formed steel, or wood
framing.
Shear walls significantly reduce
the sway of a structure to
reduce damage to the
structure and its contents
 An overview of
SOME IMPORTANT CONCEPTS OF
ELASTICITY
Introduction to Elasticity
i) Stresses and Equilibrium
 Direction Cosines Of A Line
In general, the direction cosine of a line is defined as the
cosine of the angles between the positive directed lines and
the coordinate axes.
If α, β and γ are the three angles between the directed line
segment and the coordinate axes, then these three angles
are considered as direction angles.
The angles are shown in the figure given below:
The cosine of these directed angles, cos α, cos β, and cos γ
are termed as direction cosines of the line with general
notation l, m, and n, respectively. That is,
l= cos α
Strain displacement relations
Linear constitutive equations
Linear Constitutive Relations
Hooke’s law states that the six component of stress may be
described as linear function of six components of strain. The
relation for a linear elastic, anisotropic and homogeneous
material are expressed as follows.
AXISYMMETRIC ELEMENTS
 Many three-dimensional problems show
symmetry about an axis of rotation.
 If the problem geometry is symmetric about an
axis and the loading and boundary conditions
are symmetric about the same axis, the
problem is said to be axisymmetric.
 Such three-dimensional problems can be solved
using two-dimensional finite elements.
 The axisymmetric problem are most
conveniently defined by polar coordinate system
with coordinates (r, θ, z) as shown in Fig.
(radial, axial, and circumferential directions)
Here, θ measures the angle between the plane containing
the point and the axis of the coordinate system.
At θ = 0, the radial and axial coordinates coincide with the
global Cartesian X and Y coordinates.
Let rˆ, zˆ and θˆ be unit vectors in the radial, axial, and
circumferential directions at a point in the cylindrical coordinate
system
 For axisymmetric analysis, following conditions
are to be satisfied.
1. The domain should have an axis of symmetry
and is considered as z axis.
2. The loadings on the domain has to be
symmetric about the axis of revolution, thus
they are independent of circumferential
coordinate θ.
3. The boundary condition and material
properties are symmetric about the same axis
and will be independent of circumferential
coordinate.
 Axisymmetric solids are of total symmetry about
the axis of revolution (i.e., z-axis), the field, such
as the stress and deformation is independent of
rotational angle θ.
 Therefore, the field variables can be defined as a
function of (r,z) and hence the problem
becomes a two dimensional problem similar to
those of plane stress/strain problems.
 Axisymmetric problems includes, circular
cylinder loaded with uniform external or
internal pressure, circular water tank, pressure
vessels, chimney, boiler, circular footing resting
on soil mass, etc.
If the loading consists of radial and axial components that
are independent of θ and the material is either isotropic or
orthotropic and the material properties are independent of
θ, the displacement at any point will only have radial (ur)
and axial (uz) components. The only stress components
that will be nonzero are σrr, σzz, σθθ and ζrz

(a) Element in r-z plane (b) Element in r-θ plane

Basic Concepts of Finite Element Analysis

1. Idealization of a Continuum

A continuum may be discretized in different ways

depending upon the geometrical configuration of the
domain. Fig. shows the various ways of idealizing a
continuum based on the geometry.
2. Discretization Technique
The need of finite element analysis arises when the
structural system in terms of its either geometry, material
properties, boundary conditions or loadings is complex in
nature.
For such case, the whole structure needs to be subdivided
into smaller elements.
The whole structure is then analyzed by the assemblage of
all elements representing the complete structure including
its all properties.
The subdivision process is an important task in finite
element analysis and requires some skill and knowledge.
In this procedure, first, the number, shape, size and
configuration of elements have to be decided in such a
manner that the real structure is simulated as closely as
possible.
The discretization is to be in such that the results
converge to the true solution.

However, too fine mesh will lead to extra

computational effort.

Fig. shows a finite element mesh of a continuum

using triangular and quadrilateral elements.
The assemblage of triangular elements in this
case shows better representation of the continuum.
 The discretization process also shows that the
more accurate representation is possible if the body
is further subdivided into some finer mesh.
Element shapes
Elements are defined by the following properties:
1. Dimensionality
2. Nodal Points
3. Geometry
4. Degrees of Freedom
5. Nodal Forces
 Line Element

Two-dimensional Elements

Three-dimensional Elements

Axisymmmetric Element
Two dimensional elements
(a) Triangular element
(b) Rectangular element
(c) Quadrilateral element
(d) Quadrilateral formed by two triangles
(e) Quadrilateral formed by four triangles
 Constant Strain Triangle (CST/T3)
Linear Strain Triangle (LST/T6)
Quadratic Strain Triangle (QST/T10)
Cubic Strain Triangle(15 noded)
Quartic Strain Triangle (21 noded)
Linear Quadrilateral Element (Q4)
Quadratic Quadrilateral Element (Q8)
Three dimensional elements.
(a) Tetrahedron
(b) Rectangular brick element
 Element selection criteria
Which element type should be used?

 Beams, plates or solids?

 Quadrilateral or triangle?
 Hexahedral, pentahedral or tetrahedral ?
 Higher or lower order?

The choice of the element type is strongly

dependent on the structure to be analyzed
Example:

Deciding between 1D, 2D and

3D element models
 The Model
 We have the following model:
It consist of rectangular beams that
are 100 mm wide and 200 mm high
with thickness 5 mm. The longest
beams are 2000 mm and the total width of the
model is 1000 mm. The centerline of the
crossing bars are located 550 mm from each
end.
 The beams are welded together, but the weld
fillets are to be neglected due to their small
size
 The structure carries a load of 2000 kg evenly
distributed over the two cross bars
 The problem
 to investigate the maximum overall deflection and
maximum stress
 As a guideline for meshing, element aspect ratios
less than 5

1D, 2D and 3D calculations were done and see what

effort they take and what answers they yield!
 Beam Model

Element size 100 mm

 Shell Model

Element size 33 mm
Shell elements are modelled with 6 degrees of
freedom (3 translations and 3 rotations), but
inplane rotation does not exist (If shell element is
defined in xy plane, rotation dof along z along will
not exist)
Solid tetrahedron element has 3 translational
and 3 rotational DOF per node.
 Solid Model

Element size 25 mm
 Comparing the three analyses
1D 2D 3D
Number of nodes 60 9072 66015
Number of elements 60 3024 33003
DOF 336 44640 196317
Disk usage for solving 1 MB 195 MB 124 MB
Memory usage for solving 16 MB 21 MB 1530 MB

Modelling time 20 min 30 min 60 min

Solving time 2 sec 70 sec 2000 sec
Postprosessing time15 min 2 min 1 min
Total time 35 min 33 min 94 min
Maximum deflection 0.0984 mm 0.143 mm0.135 mm
 Comparing the three analysis
Beam Model
Minmal modelling effort, accurate calculation results
Does not calculate beam cross section deformation (which happens in this
case)
Postprocessing somewhat awkward and time consuming, could present
errors

Plate Model
Higher modelling effort, good calculation results
Must have control of what is “top“ and “bottom“ of elements

Solid Model
Highest modelling effort, good calculation results
Does not give any significant additional results compared to plate model