Finite Element method

11/03/2024

Exercise 7

Generate the nodal list and the connectivity matrix for the following 3D truss. What would be
the sizes of the global stiffness and the reduced stiffness matrices?

1.0m

Apparently, I forgot to specify the dimensions of the structure. It is supposed to be a modular

structure. Each module fits in a cubic meter.
Node X Y Z Elem
ni nj
id [m] [m] [m] id
1 0 0 0 1 1 2
2 1 0 0 2 4 5
3 0 1 0 3 7 8
4 0 0 1 4 1 3
5 1 0 1 5 4 6
6 0 1 1 6 7 9
7 0 0 2 7 2 3
8 1 0 2 8 5 6
9 0 1 2 9 8 9
10 3 6
11 6 9
12 1 4
13 4 7
14 2 5
15 5 8
16 3 4
17 2 4
18 2 6
19 6 7
20 5 7
21 5 9

The size of the stiffness matrix will be 27x27 (Square matrix containing 9 nodes with 3 DoF
each). Obviously, you are not solving a system like that by hand.
Considering that nodes 1, 2 and 3 are embedded, 9 DoF can be taken out from the K matrix.

THUONG ANH NGUYEN, GUSTAVO MENDOZA CHÁVEZ 1

 Finite Element method
11/03/2024

Exercise 8

Indicate all the mistakes in the following triangular meshes.

No nodal
Under constrained structure connexion
(risk of turning)

Under constrained structure

(risk of sliding)

Nodal load
without a node

THUONG ANH NGUYEN, GUSTAVO MENDOZA CHÁVEZ 2

 Finite Element method
11/03/2024

Exercise 9
Find the stresses for element 4.

2 3

1
2
0 1
0

Solution:
Units [m, MPa, MN]
The nodes’ ids are added in red. The first DoF are added in cyan, the rest follow the same
numbering technique.

For the bar (element 4) the stiffness matrix is given by

𝒍𝟐 𝒍𝒎 𝟎 −𝒍𝟐 −𝒍𝒎 𝟎
𝒍𝒎 𝒎𝟐 𝟎 𝒍𝒎 −𝒎𝟐 𝟎
𝑨𝒆 𝑬𝒆 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎
𝒌𝒆 =
𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 −𝒍𝟐 −𝒍𝒎 𝟎 𝒍𝟐 𝒍𝒎 𝟎
−𝒍𝒎 −𝒎𝟐 𝟎 𝒍𝒎 𝒎𝟐 𝟎
[ 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 ]
Notice that the zeros in the matrix correspond to the 3rd DoF in the system (bending) which
the bar cannot withstand.
𝑙 = 0.81, 𝑚 = 0.58
20.2 14.4 0 −20.2 −14.4 0
10.3 0 −14.4 −10.3 0
𝑘4 = 0 0 0 0
20.2 14.4 0
10.3 0
[ 0 ]

THUONG ANH NGUYEN, GUSTAVO MENDOZA CHÁVEZ 3

 Finite Element method
11/03/2024

For the column-beam elements, the stiffness matrix in the global coordinates is given by
[𝑅]𝑇 [𝑘𝑒′ ][𝑅]

Element 1:
𝑙 = 1, 𝑚 = 0
1371.4 0 0 −1371.4 0 0
17.9 31.3 0 −17.9 31.3
𝑘′1 = 73.1 0 −31.3 36
1371 0 0
17.9 −31.3
[ 73.1 ]

It can be observed that the rotational matrix becomes the identity, thus 𝑘1 (global coordinates)
is equal to 𝑘′1 (local coordinates).

Elements 2 and 3
𝑙 = 0, 𝑚 = 1
1920.0 0 0 −1920.0 0 0
49.1 61.4 0 −49.1 61.4
𝑘′2 = 𝑘3′ = 102.3 0.00 −61.4 51.1
1920 0 0
49.1 −61.4
[ 102.3 ]
In the global coordinates:
49.1 0 −61.4 −49.1 0 −61.4
1920 0 0 −1920 0
𝑘2 = 𝑘3 = 102.3 61.4 0 51.1
49.1 0 61.4
1920 0
[ 102.3 ]

The force vector in the system is:

𝐹 = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.0132, −0.00385, −0.0022, 0, −0.00385, 0.0022}𝑇

THUONG ANH NGUYEN, GUSTAVO MENDOZA CHÁVEZ 4

 Finite Element method
11/03/2024

Boundary conditions.
The considered displacements at DoF 0 to 5 and DoF 7 are 0.
Here, again, I am assuming the assemblage of the global stiffness matrix is clear.
One can obtain:

𝑄 = { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1.6x10−4 , −4.9x10−7 , −6.3x10−5 , 1.5x10−4 , 0, −2.8x10−5 }

The aims of this example can be divided into 2 main points:

a) The use of the column-beams for 2D frames using the rotational matrix 𝑅
b) To show how a relatively small model involves already the inversion of “big” matrices.
Restricting rapidly the solution by hand.
This is, obviously, not a problem for computational algorithms where direct solution
can be efficiently achieved for models containing few millions of degrees of freedom.
For bigger models, approximative or iterative solutions could be more adapted.

THUONG ANH NGUYEN, GUSTAVO MENDOZA CHÁVEZ 5

 Finite Element method
11/03/2024

Exercise 10
Assemble the global stiffness matrix of the following thin-plate structure.

For plane stress conditions, the material property matrix is given by:

Then we proceed to write down, for each element, the strain displacement matrix 𝐵𝑒 . Which,
for a triangular 3-node plate, is given in terms of the Jacobian:

Where :
𝑥𝑛 stands for the 𝑥 coordinate at local node 𝑛 (similar for 𝑦𝑛 )

The matrix multiplication 𝐵𝑒 𝐷

THUONG ANH NGUYEN, GUSTAVO MENDOZA CHÁVEZ 6

 Finite Element method
11/03/2024

For the first element:

And for the second element:

The element stiffness matrix is given by 𝑡𝑒 𝐴𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑇 𝐷𝐵𝑒 :

Here, again, I am assuming the assemblage of the global stiffness matrix is clear.
The reduced problem can be written as 𝐾𝑅 𝑄𝑅 = 𝐹𝑅 :

Solving the system by premultipliying both sides of the equation by 𝐾𝑅−1

THUONG ANH NGUYEN, GUSTAVO MENDOZA CHÁVEZ 7