Theory of Elasticity

Theory of elasticity governs response

Symmetric stress & strain components

Governing equations
Equilibrium equations (3)
Strain-displacement equations (6)
Constitutive equations (6)

Unknowns
Stress (6)
Strain (6)
Displacement (3)

Boundary & Initial

Conditions
Linear elastic material
Three partial differential equations in
displacements
Second order in each coordinate
Second order in time

On a free surface in each direction

Specify stress or displacement but not both

Initial conditions for each direction

specify
Displacement and velocity

Surface Forces
Specify pressure (zz), shears (zx, zy)
or
Specify displacements (u,v,w)

Rigid Body Motion 2D

Rigid Body Displacements

2D
Strains vanish
xx

u
v
u v
0, yy
0, xy
0,
x
y
y x

Integrating normal strains

u f y , v g x

Integrating shear strain

f y g x 0 or g x 0 & g x constant

Hence
U constants)
f y (, U,
& fV yare
y, g x V x
Displacement
u x, y U y, v x, y solution
V x

Reactions with Excessive

Constraints

Extra constraint in horizontal direction will add

excessive stress
Vertical constraints and loads produce point load
infinite stresses

Rigid Body Displacements

3D
All strains vanish

xx yy zz 0, xy yz zx 0

In terms
of displacements
u ui vj wk

Integrating
yields displacements
u U r

Where
U Ui Vj Wk constant vector

And
x i y j z k constant vector

Self-Equilibrating Forces
Examples include:
Uniform pressure (submarine or bathysphere)

Thermal expansion

BCs remove rigid body translations &

rotations
Constrain six degrees of
freedom (3 dofs at one
point, 2 dofs at a second
and 1 dof at a third)

Plate & Beam Dofs at Each

Node
Beam 3
translations
3 rotations

Plate 3
translations
2 rotations

Nastran FE Code Plate

Elements
All nodes for all elements types have six
dofs
3 for translation
3 for rotation

Flat plate models need dofs perpendicular

to plane of model constrained (set to zero)
Shells made of plate elements do not
Solid elements need all three rotations at
each node set to zero

Simply Supported Beam

Example

Fix six dofs 5 translation and 1 rotation

Simply Supported Beam

Example

Fix six dofs 5 translation and 1 rotation

Cantilever Beam

Fix six dofs 3 translation and 3 rotation

Internal Surfaces & Cracks

Cracks

Internal Surfaces

Hertz Contact - Gaps &

Friction
Hertz Contact

Gap & Friction

Elements

Transformations

X ' X cos Y sin

Y ' X sin Y cos
Z ' Z

Use of Symmetry
Makes a large problem smaller
Axisymmetry reduces a 3D problem
to 2D
Recall stress & strain symmetric
Examples:

Periodic Boundary
Conditions
Stress & Strain are periodic
Mean displacements can vary
linearly with coordinates due to
expansion and rotation
For
u1 C1 u0
v1 v0

Multi-Point Constraints Tying

CX D

c12
c22

...

...

c11
c
21

cn1 cn 2

or

... c1m

... c2 m

... ...

... cnm

x1

x2

d1
d
2

...

...
d m

xm

where xi are specified degrees of freedom,

cij dj are known constants.

Distant Boundary Conditions

Build a sufficiently large model
At least 20 times length of largest
dimension of interest

Substructure a large coarse model

Use output from large model as input to
a refined local model
Use super-elements or substructuring
Use infinite elements (when available)