Roll No.

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Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore
M.Tech Degree Examaminations – April 2018
Second Semester
Engineering Design
16ED653 Finite Element Techniques
[Time: Three hours Maximum: 100 Marks]
Answer all questions
(Authorized hand-outs which are duly signed and sealed may be used in the exam hall)

1. Answer the following questions:

(a) Derive the transformation matrix and stiffness matrix for a 2D truss bar element which has
the local horizontal axis aligned at an angle of  0 (degrees) counter clockwise with the
global horizontal axis.
(b) Write down the general form of the unknown functions using arbitrary constants, for a 3D
quadratic hexahedral element having a total of 20 nodes (with additional mid-edge nodes).
(c) For the given assemblage (Figure-1) of spring elements, determine the nodal
displacements, the forces in each element, and the reactions using direct stiffness approach.

Figure-1
(10+4+8 = 22 Marks)
2. Derive the weak form from the following strong form. Also, prove the equivalence of the two
formulations.
 d 2u 
κ  2   λu  2 x 2  0; where, and  are constants,in 0  x  1
 dx 
u(0)  1
u(1)  2
NOTE : Only primary degree of freedom is specified at the boundaries.
(12 Marks)

3. Form the Location Matrix (LM) array for the given 2D finite element domain in Figure-2.

Figure-2
Also, demonstrate the assembly procedure for the cases of at least one diagonal and one off-
diagonal terms each of the global stiffness matrix, and one component of the global force
vector.
(15 Marks)
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4. Demonstrate the concept of degeneration with the help of a tri-linear tetrahedral element
formed from a tri-linear hexahedral (brick) element showing the corresponding modifications
to the shape functions and interpolation functions.
(6 Marks)

5. What are Lagrange polynomials? Illustrate the use of Lagrange polynomials for the case of a
2D, 9-noded, second order (additional mid-edge nodes and a face-centered node) quadrilateral
element. NOTE: Write data table for all the nodes, and shape functions for at least two nodes.
(12)
6. Answer the following questions:
(a) Derive the stress-strain equations for a generic Linear Strain Triangle (LST) element
showing only relevant mathematical steps.
(b) Compare on the pros and cons of using Constant Strain Triangle (CST) or LST elements
for a given finite element application.
(c) Determine the elemental stresses for the following plane strain element shown in Figure-3,
if the nodal displacements are computed as:
u1  0.005 mm , v1  0.002 mm , u2  0 mm , v2  0 mm , u3  0.005 mm , v3  0 mm
Let E  70 GPa ,   0.3, t  1 mm , and the coordinates in the figure are given in units of
millimetres.
NOTE: Final solution need not be reached. You may stop at the level of evaluation of the
intermittent matrices.

Figure-3
(8+4+5 = 17)

7. Answer the following questions:

(a) Determine the global equations that can be used to calculate the temperature distribution
through the length of a fin ( L  0.4 m) , if it is discretized using 4 elements of equal length.
The fin, which is shown in Figure-4, is insulated along the perimeter, with a constant
temperature of 1000 C defined at the left end, and a positive heat flux of q  1000 W/m2
specified at the right end. The thermal conductivity of the fin is K xx  6 W/(m. 0 C ) and the
constant cross sectional area is 0.1 m2 .

Figure-4
NOTE: The nodal temperatures need not be solved. You may restrict your work to the level
of determining the global equations.
(b) Using proper diagrams, briefly explain the Gauss Quadrature technique of performing
numerical integration for multi-dimensional finite element problems with applicability to
single point, two-by-two, and three-by-three rules.
(10+6 = 16 Marks)
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