FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

BY

Prof.(Dr.) G.A.Harmain
Professor, Mechanical Engg. Dept.
National Institute of Technology
Hazrabal, Srinagar

Lecture 4
Approximate solution
 The approximate solution 𝑢ℎ𝑒 must fulfill below
conditions in order to converge to actual solution
u as the number of elements are increased.
1. Itshould be continuous over the element and
differentiable, as required by weak form.
2. Itshould be complete polynomial i.e. include
all lower order terms upto the highest order
used.
3. It
should be interpolant of the primary variable
at the nodes of the finite element.
Approximate solution
 For the weak form the minimum polynomial order
of 𝑢ℎ𝑒 is linear.
𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥 = 𝑐1𝑒 + 𝑐2𝑒 (𝑥)
𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥𝑎 = 𝑐1𝑒 + 𝑐2𝑒 (𝑥𝑎 )≡𝑢1𝑒
𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥𝑏 = 𝑐1𝑒 + 𝑐2𝑒 (𝑥𝑏 )≡ 𝑢2𝑒
In matrix form
𝑢1𝑒 1 𝑥𝑎 𝐶1𝑒
𝑒 = 1 𝑥 𝑒
𝑢2 𝑏 𝐶2
Approximate solution (contd.)
 Inverting, we obtain
1 1
𝐶1𝑒 = 𝑢1𝑒 𝑥𝑏 − 𝑢2𝑒 𝑥𝑎 ≡ α1𝑒 𝑢1𝑒 − α𝑒2 𝑢2𝑒
ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒
1 1
𝐶2𝑒 = 𝑢2𝑒 − 𝑢1𝑒 ≡ β1𝑒 𝑢1𝑒 − β𝑒2 𝑢2𝑒
ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒

where ℎ𝑒 = 𝑥𝑏 − 𝑥𝑎
α1𝑒 = 𝑥𝑏 α𝑒2 = −𝑥𝑎 α𝑒2 = −𝑥𝑎
β1𝑒 = −1 and β𝑒2 = 1
In general α𝑒𝑖 = (−1) 𝑗 𝑥𝑗𝑒 , β𝑒𝑖 = (−1) 𝑗

𝑥1𝑒 = 𝑥a 𝑥2𝑒 = 𝑥𝑏
Approximate solution (contd.)
In general α𝑒𝑖 = (−1) 𝑗 𝑥𝑗𝑒 , β𝑒𝑖 = (−1) 𝑗

𝑥1𝑒 = 𝑥a 𝑥2𝑒 = 𝑥𝑏
Hence,
1
𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥 = 𝑐1𝑒 + 𝑐2𝑒 𝑥 = α1𝑒 𝑢1𝑒 − α𝑒2 𝑢2𝑒 + β1𝑒 𝑢1𝑒 − β𝑒2 𝑢2𝑒
ℎ𝑒
1 1
𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥 = α1𝑒 − β1𝑒 𝑥 𝑢1𝑒 + α𝑒2 − β𝑒2 𝑥 𝑢2𝑒
ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒
2 𝑒
𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥 = ψ1𝑒 𝑥 𝑢1𝑒 + ψ𝑒2 𝑥 𝑢2𝑒 = ψ
𝑗=1 𝑗 𝑥 𝑢𝑗𝑒
1 𝑥𝑏 −𝑥
where ψ1𝑒 𝑥 = α1𝑒 − β1𝑒 𝑥 =
ℎ𝑒 𝑥𝑏 −𝑥𝑎
1 𝑥−𝑥𝑎
ψ𝑒2 𝑥 = α𝑒2 − β𝑒2 𝑥 =
ℎ𝑒 𝑥𝑏 −𝑥𝑎

These are called Linear finite element approximation functions

 Properties of Linear finite element
approximation functions
𝑒 0 𝑖𝑓 𝑖 ≠ 𝑗
 ψ𝑖 𝑥𝑗𝑒 =
1 𝑖𝑓 𝑖 = 𝑗
𝑛 𝑒
 𝑖=1 ψ𝑖 (𝑥) =1

Linear finite element approximation

Linear interpolation function
Approximate solution (contd.)
 The element interpolation function ψ𝑒𝑖 i.e
𝑥𝑏 −𝑥 𝑥−𝑥𝑎
ψ1𝑒 𝑥 = ψ𝑒2 𝑥 =
𝑥𝑏 −𝑥𝑎 𝑥𝑏 −𝑥𝑎
are derived in terms of the global coordinate 𝑥,
but they are defined only on the element domain
Ω𝑒 = (𝑥𝑎 , 𝑥𝑏 ).
In terms of local or element coordinate 𝑥
𝑥
ψ1𝑒 𝑥 =1−
ℎ𝑒
𝑥
ψ𝑒2 𝑥 =
ℎ𝑒
Approximate solution (contd.)
 Derive interpolation function of higher order
𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥 = 𝑐1𝑒 + 𝑐2𝑒 𝑥 + 𝑐3𝑒 𝑥 2
3 𝑒
 𝑢ℎ𝑒 𝑥 = ψ
𝑗=1 𝑗 𝑥 𝑢𝑗𝑒
= ψ1𝑒 𝑥 𝑢1𝑒 + ψ𝑒2 𝑥 𝑢2𝑒 + ψ𝑒3 𝑥 𝑢3𝑒
Thus Quadratic Lagrange interpolation functions (ψ𝑒𝑗 )
will be
𝑥 2𝑥
ψ1𝑒 𝑥 = 1 − 1−
ℎ ℎ
𝑥 𝑥
ψ𝑒2 𝑥 = 4 1−
ℎ ℎ
𝑥 2𝑥
ψ𝑒3 𝑥 = − 1−
ℎ ℎ𝑒