Numerical Methods for Field

Problems
III. Introduction to FEM
ME 635/IPD 611

Notes by: Kishore Pochiraju

Agenda

Bending of Beam – with

• Model Assumptions
– Kinematics
• Kinematics deal with a continuous displacement field
and a continuous strain field.
– Kinetics or “Material Behavior”
• Kinetics deals with a continuous stress field in the
beam using the generalized Hooke’s law if the
material is linear elastic.
• Solving the Governing Equations

2
Beam

• Beams are the most common type of structural component,

particularly in Civil and Mechanical Engineering.

• A beam resists transverse loads mainly through bending action,

Bending produces Compressive Longitudinal Stresses in one side of
the beam and Tensile Stresses in the other.
Assumptions of Elementary Beam Theory

• The beam is loaded only in the y direction.

• Deflections of the beam are small in comparison to the
characteristic dimensions of the beam.
• The material of the beam is linearly elastic, isotropic, and
homogeneous.
• The beam is prismatic and the cross section has an axis of
symmetry in the plane of bending.
Euler-Bernoulli assumption for thin beams

• The cross-section is infinitely rigid in its own plane.

• The cross-section of a beam remain plane after deformation.
• The cross-section remains normal to the deformed axis of the beam.
Beam Example

• Simplifying Assumptions
– Pure Bending
– Only Transverse loading
– Linear Elastic Material
– Neutral axis
Beam Example
Kinematic Model

The length after bending at any position y is

and the bending strain is then

From basic calculus, the radius

of curvature of a planar curve
is:

The normal strain in the direction of the

longitudinal axis as a result of
bending is
Material Model – Linear Elastic

and the corresponding normal stress is

 Interpolation of Beam Deflection

Transverse deflection of a beam

Same deflections, different slopes

For the flexure element, the field variable of interest is the transverse
displacement v(x) of the neutral surface away from its straight, undeflected
position.

Beam element nodal displacements

The displacement function v(x) is to be discretized

Interpolation of Bending Deflections

Assume the displacement function in the form

Subject to the boundary conditions “the nodal conditions”

Algebraic Coefficients with respect to Geometric Parameters

So, the coefficients in terms of the nodal variables

Substituting into the displacement function and collecting the coefficients of the
nodal variables results in the expression
Interpolation functions

which is of the form

Normalized Local Coordinates:

Strains and Stresses Derived from Displacements

The normal strain in the direction of the longitudinal axis as a result of

bending is

The normal stress distribution on a cross section located at axial

position x is

→
Substituting for the interpolation functions and carrying out the differentiations
indicated
Forces and Bending Moments

Axial Force; Fx should be zero

Cross-section must be symmetric

Transverse Forces and Moments:
 Similarly, the internal bending moment at a
cross section must be equivalent to the
resultant moment of the normal stress
distribution, so
Principle of Minimum Potential Energy

• The way FEM obtains the Temperatures, Stresses, Flows, or other

desired unknown parameters in the finite element model are by
Minimizing an Energy Functional.
• An energy functional consists of all the energies associated with the
particular finite element model.
• Based on the law of conservation of energy, the finite element energy
functional must equal zero.
• Thus, the basic equation for finite element analysis is:
 Spring Example

• The principle of virtual work, which states that if a particle is

under equilibrium, under a set of a system of forces, then for any
displacement, the virtual work is zero.

  Strain energy (U)  potential energy of loading  W 

 Of all kinematically admissible displacement fields, one that
minimizes the total potential energy (P) of the body satisfies the
force equilibrium.

Kinematically Admissible Displacements: Satisfy the

displacement boundary conditions and continuity conditions
of the problem
Any other
“admissible”
displaceme
nt field w(x)
Exact
solution for
the
displacement
field uexactx(x)
0 L

Minimu
 Force Equilibrium and Maximum Potential Energy

The potential energy of an elastic body is defined as

For linear elastic materials, Strain energy per unit volume in

the body

The work potential of external forces is given by

Π is minimum where its derivative with respect to the solution

parameters ϵ vanishes
Formulate Potential Energy for the Element

• The total strain energy is expressed as

Minimization

Castigliano’s Theorem
Nodal Displacements and Slopes for Minimum Potential

• Node 1:
– Applying the first theorem of Castigliano to the strain energy function
with respect to nodal displacement v1 gives the transverse force:

– Application of the theorem with respect to the rotational displacement

gives the moment as

• Node 2:
In Matrix Form with Unknowns

 Previous Equations algebraically relate the four nodal displacement

values to the four applied nodal forces and are of the form

 And, the element stiffness matrix is symmetric, as expected for a

linearly elastic element

 convert the integration to the dimensionless length variable

 So, the integrations of Equation become

Stiffness Coefficients for the Beam

 The complete stiffness matrix

Element Load Vector: Right Hand Side

• Beam shear force and moment convention vs. Finite

Element Convention: V is the shear force.
• Element forces and moments

Positive nodal forces The corresponding signed

and moments per the shear forces and bending
finite element moments per the beam
formulations theory sign convention
Simply Supported Beam Example

 A simply supported beam subjected to a concentrated force and

concentrated moment acting at the midpoint of the beam length

In this example,
we will see how
to use two
elements and
continuity
conditions….
Divide into 2 Elements

Two elements are used

Middle node: “2” enforces displacement and

slope continuity
Element Equations

Use Length = (L/2) for each element.

Element stiffness can be written as:

Local-Global Correspondences: Assembly

 Element-to-System Displacement Correspondence

 The system equations as

-
-
Apply Boundary Conditions and Solve

Displacement Field:
Piece-wise Displacement Field
Force and Moment Balance

Reaction Force and Moments

Dealing with Distributed Loads

 The mechanical work performed by the distributed load

Equivalent forces at nodes 1 and 2,

Equivalent nodal moments

Another Example:
Uniformly Distributed Load ( 2 Elements)
Stiffness Matrix and Force Vector
Stiffness Matrix and Force Vector

Element Stiffness

Global Stiffness
Apply Boundary Conditions and Solve