Figure 2.4a depicts a system of three linearly elastic springs supporting three equal weights W suspended in a vertical plane. Treating the springs as finite elements, deter- mine the vertical displacement of each weight. 1 Solution To treat this as a finite element problem, we assign node and element numbers as shown in Figure 2.4b and ignore, for the moment, that displacement Uy is known to be zero by the fixed support constraint. Per Equation 2.6, the stiffness matrix of each element is (preprocessing) 3k —3k wi=[ ok] w= [ ] wi [L 3k (a) b)The element-to-global displacement relations are we aye 2) WP SU, WP auP aU, uP auP =u, ul in the previous example, we then write the individual element equation: 3k 3k «0-07 U1 ° 3k 3k 0 Off Us|] po 0 0 oO OfJut Ty 0 o 0 0 olly 0 0 0 0 077% ° 0% -%x offut_ |i @ 0 -% %* OfJUT™ |r? o 0 o olluy 0 00 0 OFF 0 oo Uy 0 =} 0 3 00 U; : @) 00 us 3) u ry u,|_ Jw uf) ® -1 idly w where we utilize the fact that the sum of the element forces at each node must equal the applied force at that node and, at node 1, the force is an unknown reaction, Applying the displacement constraint U; = 0 (this is also preprocessing), we obtain —3kU2 = Fy (5) as the constraint equation and the matrix equation 2 07[t» w k 3 -1];ut=}w © o =a 1 dlu w for the active displacements. Again note that Equation 6 is obtained by eliminating the constraint equation from 4 corresponding to the prescribed zero displacement. Simultaneous solution (the solution step) of the algebraic equations represented by Equation 6 yields the displacements as U. Ww vu. Ww U, 3Ww ok Tr ‘Cr and Equation 5 gives the reaction force as Fy =-3W1.2.5 Example Problems EXAMPLE 1:1 Ginen: For the spring system shown above, Ky =100N/mm, ky = 200N/mm, ks = 100N/mm. P=500N, m =m =0 Find: a. The global stiffness matrix ». Displacements of nodes 2 and 3 ©. The reaction forces at nodes 1 and 4 4. The force in the spring 2 Solution 4 The element stiffness matrices are (make sure fo put proper unit after each umber) - [1 100" ts a0 |) 200-20 k= | 200 | (N/mm) 100-100) =100 100 |S/™™ Applying the superposition concept, we obtain the global stiffness matrix for the spring system. 100-100 0 0 100 100+200 -200 oo 0-200 2004100 100 0 o 100 100 10 10 0 0 100 300-200 0 0-200 300-100 0 9 100 100 which is symmetric and banded.which is symmetric and banded. Equilibrium (FE) equation for the whole system is 10 300-20 0 {Iu 0-100 0) 0 JIu) fi |B Fs 0 0-100 100 |} fr 0-200 300 -100f], 'b. Applying the BCS 1 fourth rows and columns, we have Saleh ft fe} =f =} . From the first and fourth equations in the system of FE equations, we obtain the reaction forces and F,=P, and “deleting” the first and Fy = “100u, = -200 (N) F, = ~100uy = -300 (N)EXAMPLE 1.2 Problem For the spring system with arbitrarily numbered nodes and elements, as shown above, find the global stiffness matrix. Solution First, we construct the following element connectivity table: Node (1) 4 2 3 2 Nodej@) 2 3 5 1 ‘This table specifies the global node numbers corresponding to the local node numbers for each clement, Finally, applying the superposition method, we obtain the global stiffness matrix as follows: % tt keke vk kth thy k-|0 aks 0 -ks 0 ° ty 0 ahs kth 0 ky2.5 Examples with Bar Elements ‘We now look at examples of using the bar element in the analysis of 1-D stress problems. and plane truss problems. EXAMPLE 21 Problem Find the stresses in the two-bar assembly which is loaded with force P, and constrained at the two ends, as shown in the above figure. Solution Use two I-D bar elements. For element 1, alld [a] 7 Fase ing ica sates penal teas iatosoirecesah teed k, Bars and Trusses 33 Load and boundary conditions (BCS) areLoad and boundary conditions (BCs) are 4 =m =0, R=P 2-2 olfo} fa fala 3 allat le oa afel ls “Deleting” the first row and column, and the third row and column, we obtain FE equation becomes Aialtuad={P} Thus, ay = PE o SEA and mH), [ol 1 apayt i” PL ° whe eeh ara a 0 Stress in element 1 is 6) = Be; = EB = EL-VL vai} which indicates that bar 2s in compression.