same arguments and definitions will apply generally.

An element (2) of the hypothetical

structure will possess only two points of interconnection; others may have quite a large
number of such points. Quite generally, therefore,
qe =


qe1
qe2
...
qe
m


and ue =


u1
u2
...
um


(1.4)
with each qe
a and ua possessing the same number of components or degrees of freedom.
The stiffness matrices of the element will clearly always be square and of the form
Ke =


Ke
11 Ke
12
Ke
1m
Ke
21
. . .
...
...
...
...
Ke
m1
Ke
mm


(1.5)
in which Ke
11, Ke
12, etc., are submatrices which are again square and of the size l l,
where l is the number of force and displacement components to be considered at each node.
The element properties were assumed to follow a simple linear relationship. In principle,
similar relationships could be established for non-linear materials, but discussion of such
problems will be postponed at this stage. In most cases considered in this volume the
element matrices Ke will be symmetric.
1.3 Assembly and analysis of a structure
Consider again the hypothetical structure of Fig. 1.1. To obtain a complete solution the two
conditions of
(a) displacement compatibility and
(b) equilibrium
have to be satisfied throughout.
Any system of nodal displacements u:
u =

u1
...
un


(1.6)
listed now for the whole structure in which all the elements participate, automatically
satisfies the first condition.
As the conditions of overall equilibrium have already been satisfied within an element,
all that is necessary is to establish equilibrium conditions at the nodes (or assembly points)
of the structure. The resulting equations will contain the displacements as unknowns, and
once these have been solved the structural problem is determined. The internal forces in
elements, or the stresses, can easily be found by using the characteristics established a
priori for each element.