III-Formulation of the Displacement Finite Element

Method (DFEM):
3.1 General DFEM Procedure:

The general steps for the formulation of DFEM are:

1. Discretization of the problem domain into finite elements.

2. Selection of element nodal displacements and element interpolation

functions (element type and displacement function).

3. Evaluation of individual element properties.

4. Assembly of system stiffness matrix and global force vector.

5. Introduction of boundary conditions, solution of system equations for

the unknown nodal displacements, and calculation of reactions.

6. Calculation of strains/stresses for each element.

3.2 Detailed standard steps of the displacement finite element method (in
One Dimension):

1- Discretization of the problem into finite elements:

• The continuum is divided into finite elements assumed to be connected

at the nodes only.

• Then considering equilibrium at each one of the nodes, results in a

system of simultaneous equations in which the unknowns are the
nodal displacements.

*Equilibrium is based on variation in total potential energy as follows:

In 1D Total Potential Energy (TPE) = (From eqn. 1.20)

1
𝜋 = ∫𝐿 {𝜀𝑥 }{𝜎𝑥 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 − ∫𝐿 {𝑢}{𝐴𝑏}𝑑𝑥 − ∫𝐿 {𝑢}{𝑇}𝑑𝑥 − ∑𝑖 {𝑢}𝑖 {𝑃}𝑖
2

(3.1)

1
 𝐼𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝐿 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ.

• Variation in TPE = (From eqn. 1.21)

𝛿𝜋 = ∫ 𝛿 {𝜀𝑥 }{𝜎𝑥 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 − ∫ 𝛿 {𝑢}{𝐴𝑏}𝑑𝑥

𝐿 𝐿

− ∫𝐿 𝛿 {𝑢}{𝑇}𝑑𝑥 − ∑𝑖 𝛿 {𝑢}𝑖 {𝑃}𝑖 = 0 (3.2)

• *The Finite Element Discretization of 𝛿𝜋 is:

∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 𝛿{𝜀𝑥 }{𝜎𝑥 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 ) − ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 𝛿 {𝑢}{𝐴𝑏}𝑑𝑥 ) −

𝑒 𝑒

∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 𝛿 {𝑢}{𝑇}𝑑𝑥) − ∑𝑖 𝛿 {𝑢}𝑖 {𝑃}𝑖 = 0 (3.3)

𝑒

• *Stress is given by:

𝜎𝑥 = 𝐸 [𝜀𝑥 − 𝜀𝑥0 ] + 𝜎𝑥𝑖 (3.4)

Where: E=Young’s modulus, 𝜀𝑥0 =initial strain, 𝜎𝑥𝑖 =initial stress

• *Displacement at x is defined in terms of overall nodal displacement

{U} and shape functions [N] as:

{u} = [N] {U}

Its variation is: δ{u} = [N]δ{U} (3.5)

• *Strains: From eqn. 1.7 and eqn. 3.5:

strain: {𝜀𝑥 } = [𝐵 ]{𝑈}

variation in strain: 𝛿 {𝜀𝑥 } = [𝐵 ]𝛿 {𝑈} (3.6)

• *Substituting in the variation in total potential energy eqn. (3.3), since

𝛿{𝜀𝑥 }𝑇 = 𝛿{𝑈}𝑇 [𝐵]𝑇 and 𝛿{𝑢}𝑇 = 𝛿{𝑈}𝑇 [𝑁]𝑇 , gives:

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 𝛿 {𝑈}𝑇 (∑ (∫ [𝐵]𝑇 𝐸 [𝐵]𝐴𝑑𝑥) ) {𝑈} − 𝛿 {𝑈}𝑇 ∑ (∫ [𝐵]𝑇 𝐸 {𝜀𝑥0 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 )
𝑒 𝐿 𝑒 𝑒 𝐿 𝑒

+𝛿 {𝑈}𝑇 ∑ (∫ [𝐵]𝑇 {𝜎𝑥𝑖 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 ) − 𝛿 {𝑈}𝑇 ∑ (∫ [𝑁]𝑇 {𝐴𝑏}𝑑𝑥 )

𝑒 𝐿 𝑒 𝑒 𝐿 𝑒

−𝛿 {𝑈}𝑇 ∑ (∫ [𝐵]𝑇 {𝑇}𝑑𝑥 ) − 𝛿 {𝑈}𝑇 {𝑅𝑐 } = 0

𝑒 𝐿 𝑒

• Cancelling 𝛿{𝑈}𝑇 gives the equilibrium equations as:

(∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 𝐸 [𝐵 ]𝐴𝑑𝑥 ) ) {𝑈} − ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 𝐸 {𝜀𝑥0 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 )

𝑒 𝑒

+ ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 {𝜎𝑥𝑖 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 ) − ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝑁]𝑇 {𝐴𝑏}𝑑𝑥 )

𝑒 𝑒

− ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 {𝑇}𝑑𝑥 ) − {𝑅𝑐 } = 0 (3.7)

𝑒

• Where {𝑅𝑐 } is the vector of concentrated nodal forces.

• OR

[K]{U} = {R} (3.8)

Where:

• The structure stiffness matrix is:

[𝐾 ] = ∑𝑒[𝐾 𝑒 ] = ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 𝐸 [𝐵 ]𝐴𝑑𝑥 ) (3.9)

𝑒

𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 [𝐾 𝑒 ] 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥.

• The structure nodal load vector is:

{𝑅 } = ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 𝐸 {𝜀𝑥0 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 ) − ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 {𝜎𝑥𝑖 }𝐴𝑑𝑥 )

𝑒 𝑒

+ ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝑁]𝑇 {𝐴𝑏}𝑑𝑥 ) + ∑𝑒 (∫𝐿 [𝐵 ]𝑇 {𝑇}𝑑𝑥 ) − {𝑅𝑐 }

𝑒 𝑒

= ∑𝑒 {𝑅𝜀𝑒𝑥0 } − ∑𝑒 {𝑅𝜎𝑒𝑥𝑖 } + ∑𝑒 {𝑅𝑏𝑒 } + ∑𝑒 {𝑅𝑠𝑒 } + {𝑅𝑐 } (3.10)

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Where {𝑅𝜀𝑒𝑥0 }, {𝑅𝜎𝑒𝑥𝑖 }, {𝑅𝑏𝑒 } 𝑎𝑛𝑑 {𝑅𝑠𝑒 } 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜

𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦

2- Selection of element nodal displacements and element interpolation

functions:

• Each element is isolated and the displacement u at any point within

the element is related to the element’s nodal displacements {𝑑 𝑒 } using
interpolation functions (shape functions [N] ) as:

𝑑 = 𝑢 = [𝑁 ]{𝑑 𝑒 } (3.11)

3- Evaluation of individual element properties:

(1) Displacement function: is given from 2- above as:

𝑑 = 𝑢 = [𝑁 ]{𝑑 𝑒 } (3.11)

(2)The element strains: are obtained using strain-displacement

relations from eqn. 3.11 as:
𝑑𝑢 𝑑[𝑁]
𝜀𝑥 = = {𝑑 𝑒 } = [𝐵 ]{𝑑 𝑒 } (3.12)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

(3)The element stresses: are then obtained as:

𝜎𝑥 = 𝐸 ∗ [𝐵 ]{𝑑 𝑒 } − 𝐸 ∗ 𝜀𝑥0 + 𝜎𝑥𝑖 (3.13)

(4)The element stiffness matrix [𝐾 𝑒 ]: is then given

by: (eqn. 3.9)

𝑒
[𝐾 𝑒 ] = (∫𝐿 [𝐵]𝑇 𝐸[𝐵]𝐴𝑑𝑥) = ∫𝐿 [𝐵]𝑇 𝐸[𝐵]𝐴 𝑑𝑥𝑒 (3.14)
𝑒 𝑒

(5)The element nodal load vector: is then obtained from: (eqn. 3.10)

{𝑅 𝑒 } = ∫ [𝐵 ]𝑇 𝐸 {𝜀𝑥0 }𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑥 𝑒 − ∫ [𝐵 ]𝑇 {𝜎𝑥𝑖 }𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑥 𝑒 +

𝐿𝑒 𝐿𝑒

∫𝐿 [𝑁]𝑇 {𝑏}𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑥 𝑒 + ∫𝑆 [𝑁]𝑇 {𝑇}𝑑𝑆 𝑒 (3.15)

𝑒 𝑒

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 4- Assembly of system stiffness matrix and global force vector:

• Using the elements connectivity, the system of simultaneous equations

are assembled as:

[K] {U} = {R} (3.16)

5- Introduction of boundary conditions, Solution for Unknowns and

Calculation of Reactions:

Assuming that the restrained displacements are {𝑈𝑅 } and the unknown
displacements are {𝑈𝐹 }, eqns. (3.16) are rearranged by column and row
interchange to become:
[𝐾𝐹𝐹 ] [𝐾𝐹𝑅 ] {𝑈𝐹 } {𝑅 }
[ ]{ }={ 𝐹 } (3.17)
[𝐾𝑅𝐹 ] [𝐾𝑅𝑅 ] {𝑈𝑅 } {𝑅𝑅 }

• Solution of the 1st eqn. in (3.17) for nodal displacements gives:

{𝑈𝐹 } = [𝐾𝐹𝐹 ]−1({𝑅𝐹 } − [𝐾𝐹𝑅 ]{𝑈𝑅 }) (3.18)

• Then, calculation of reactions from 2nd eqn. in (3.17) is as:

{𝑅𝑅 } = [𝐾𝑅𝐹 ]{𝑈𝐹 } + [𝐾𝑅𝑅 ]{𝑈𝑅 } (3.19)

6- Calculation of Strains/Stresses for Individual Elements:

• The element average nodal stresses (since they are usually different
for different elements at the same common node as equilibrium is
satisfied in an overall sense) or Gauss point stresses (within the
element) are then calculated using equations (3.12 ) and (3.13 ).

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Prof. Dr. Abdelrahman Elzubair Mohamed