1.2.

1 One Spring Element

For the single element shown in Figure 1.5, we have:
Two nodes i, j
Nodal displacements ui, uj (m, mm)
Nodal forces fi, fj (Newton)
Spring constant (stiffness) k (N/m, N/mm)
Relationship between spring force F and elongation ? is shown in Figure 1.6.
In the linear portion of the curve shown in Figure 1.6, we have
F = k?, with ? = uj - ui (1.1)
where k = F/?(>0) is the stiffness of the spring (the force needed to produce a
unit stretch).
Consider the equilibrium of forces for the spring. At node i, we have
fi = -F = k(uj - ui) = kui - kuj
fi i F
and at node j
fj = F = k(uj - ui) = kui - kuj
F j fj
In matrix form,

####
(1.2)
F
Nonlinear
#
Linear
k
FIGURE 1.6
Force�displacement relation in a spring.
k
i j
fi ui uj fj
x
FIGURE 1.5
One spring element.
6 Finite Element Modeling and Simulation with ANSYS Workbench
or,
ku = f (1.3)
where
k = element stiffness matrix
u = element nodal displacement vector
f = element nodal force vector
From the derivation, we see that the first equation in Equation 1.2 represents the
equilibrium
of forces at node i, while the second equation in Equation 1.2 represents the
equilibrium
of forces at node j. Note also that k is symmetric. Is k singular or nonsingular?
That
is, can we solve the equation in Equation 1.2? If not, why?
1.2.2 A Spring System
For a system of multiple spring elements, we first write down the stiffness
equation for
each spring and then �assemble� them together to form the stiffness equation for
the whole
system. For example, for the two-spring system shown in Figure 1.7, we proceed as
follows:
For element 1, we have
k k

##