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CƠ SỞ LÝ THUYẾT PHƯƠNG PHÁP PHẦN TỬ HỮU HẠN

INITIATION TO THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
THEORETICAL COURSE
Example: Rod submitted to a traction load

PGS.TS. LÊ ĐÌNH TUÂN tuan-ledinh@hcmut.edu.vn

3/2020
 Table of contents
1. Physical problem
1.1. Statement of the physical problem
1.2. Analytical solution
2. Finite Element discretisation
2.1. Discretisation
2.2. Shape function
2.3. Reference element
2.4. Shape function of the reference element in reference coordinates
2.5. Expression of the strains in one element
2.6. Expression of the total energy of the system
2.7. Strain energy
2.8. Work of the forces
2.9. Stationarity of the total energy
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 2.10. Computation of the stiffness matrix K
2.11. Computation of the force vector F
2.12. Assembly
3. Resolution
4. Results computation
4.1. Strains computation
4.2. Stresses computation
4.3. Results comparison between analytical and discretised solution
4.4. Analysis
5. Computation with a finite element code
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Numerical integration
5.3. Example of numerical integration with one Gauss point
5.4. Example of numerical integration with two Gauss points
5.5. Results computation
5.6. Example of results computation with one Gauss point
5.7. Example of results computation with two Gauss points
6. Resume
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 1- Physical problem

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 1.1 Statement of the physical problem
The clamped rod (length L, section S, Young's modulus E) is submitted to an axial
traction load F.
1- Physical problem

Mechanical relationships :
- Material law behavior : xx=Exx
- Relationship displacements / strains :
Boundary conditions & load :
- Clamp : u(0) = 0
- Axial load : for x  [0; L]
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 1.2 Analytical solution
The displacement field can be analytically computed as :
1- Physical problem

Demonstration :

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 2- Finite Element discretisation

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 2.1 Discretisation
The rod is discretised into 4 rod elements based on 5 nodes :
2- FE discretisation

The data to be computed are :

- the displacement field u(x) at any points of the rod;
- the strain field ε(x) at any points of the rod;
- the stress field σ(x) at any points of the rod.

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 2.2 Shape function
Linear behavior of the elements :
2- FE discretisation

ui uj
i j

The displacements of a point belonging to the element e is a linear interpolation of

the displacements of the nodes i & j using the shape functions i & j :
u(x) = i(x) ui + j(x) uj
Principle :
i(xi) = 1 , i(xj) = 0 1 i(x) j(x) 1
j(xj) = 1 , j(xi) = 0 i j
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 2.2 Shape function (2)
The displacement of a point belonging to the element is expressed as a polynomial
2- FE discretisation

of the 1st degree :

u(x) = ax + b
Under the conditions : u(0) = ui
u(l) = uj
It can be deduced that :
i j

And so :

Or:

i(x) j(x)
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 2.3 Reference element
- In most cases, shape functions are expressed in reference coordinates linked to a
2- FE discretisation

reference element.
- The shape functions are independent of the current length of the element when
they are expressed in the reference coordinates and are only computed for the
reference coordinates and not for each element.

i j i j

REFERENCE coordinates

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 2.4 Shape function of the reference element in reference coordinates
The reference element of the rod is the following one
2- FE discretisation

Under the conditions : u(-1) = ui

u(1) = uj u() =a +b
It can be deduced that :

And so :

Or :

i() j()
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 2.5 Expression of strains in one element
Considering the nodal displacements vector of the element Ue and the matrix of
2- FE discretisation

the interpolation functions in the reference coordinates N(ξ) :

The displacements in the reference coordinates are :

The strains in the reference coordinates are :

Setting :

So :
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 2.6 Expression of the total energy of the system
The total energy of the system is the difference between the strain energy and the
2- FE discretisation

work of internal and external forces on the system :

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 2.7 Strain energy
The expression of the strain energy of one element i is :
2- FE discretisation

The strain field on the element is written under the form :

The stress field on the element is written under the form :

The strain energy of the element can be written :

Quadratic form !

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 2.8 Work of the forces
The expression of the work of the forces applied to the element i is :
2- FE discretisation

Work of the Work of the Work of the

volume forces surface forces nodal forces

The displacement field on the element is :

The work of the forces on the element is :

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 2.9 Stationarity of the total energy
When the system is in equilibrium, its total energy is stationary : it is minimal and
2- FE discretisation

all its derivates related to the degrees of freedom of the system (displacements)
are null :

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 2.9 Stationarity of the total energy (2)
It leads to write for each element :
2- FE discretisation

Naming : Element stiffness matrix

Element nodal force vector

respectively the stiffness matrix and the nodal force vector of the element.
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 2.10 Computation of the stiffness matrix K
From the expression of the stiffness matrix :
2- FE discretisation

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 2.11 Computation of the force vector F
From the expression of the force vector, each element being not submitted to a
2- FE discretisation

volume force nor a surface force but potentially to nodal efforts (interactions
with other elements,...) :

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 2.12 Assembly
For each of the four elements, the system to solve is :
2- FE discretisation

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 2.12 Assembly (2)
The system can be rewritten:
2- FE discretisation

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 3- Resolution

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 The system to solve is the following :

Known quantities
3-Resolution

Unknown quantities

- The second row gives the unknown displacements :

- The first row gives the unknown reaction forces :

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 The global solution is :
3-Resolution

displacements

reaction forces

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 4- Results computation

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 4.1. Strains computation
4- Results computation
Using the nodal displacements, the strains on the elements can be computed :

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 4.2. Stresses computation
4- Results computation
Using the elementary strains, stresses on the elements can be computed :

Stresses :

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 4.3. Results comparison between analytical & discretised solutions
4- Results computation
Comparison analytical / discretised solutions :

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 4.4. Analysis
4- Results computation
The discretised displacements solution is exact for each node of the mesh of the
structure. The strains are also exact (since they derive from the exact
displacements).
These results are allowable because the polynomial degree of the shape
functions is the same as the analytical solution (linear).
+

The discretised solution would also be exact since the interpolation is

linear as the analytical solution.

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 5- Computation with a finite element code

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.1. Introduction
The computation method previously presented is a hand feasible method : it is
used because of the simple shape of the elements and the reduced number of
unknowns.
When a finite element code computes a problem, new steps are introduced in
the resolution :
- the numerical integration when computing the stiffness matrices and force
vectors,
- the results computation at Gauss points (mathematically, the results are
figured better at Gauss points).

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.2. Numerical integration
The numerical integration is used for the computation of the stiffness matrices
and force vectors.
It replaces the numerical integration by weighted sums :

These sums are computed at Gauss points (in case of a Gauss numerical
integration); the precision of the numerical integration depends on their number
and associated weights.
In most of cases, Gauss points are not computed at nodes.
Other numerical integration types can be used : Legendre...
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5- Computation with a FE code
5.3. Example of numerical integration with one Gauss point
Example of numerical integration using one Gauss point on a rod element :

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.3. Example of numerical integration with one Gauss point (2)
Application to the computation of the stiffness matrix of one element :

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.4. Example of numerical integration with two Gauss points
Example of numerical integration using two Gauss points on a rod element :

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.4. Example of numerical integration with two Gauss points (2)
Application to the computation of the stiffness matrix of one element :

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.5. Results computation
The results on each element are computed at Gauss points : the quality of the
results is better at Gauss points than at nodes.

Results can also be :

- given at the element by averaging the values computed at Gauss points,
- extrapolated at nodes by extrapolating the values computed at Gauss points
(linearly if the element is linear,...),
- the two previous types of results can be smoothed by averaging results at
nodes.

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.6 Example of results computation with one Gauss point
Application to results computation :

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5- Computation with a FE code
5.7. Example of results computation with two Gauss points
Application to results computation :

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5- Computation with a FE code
Case : displacement field is NOT linear !

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5- Computation with a FE code
Results comparison between analytical & discretised solutions
Comparison analytical / discretised solutions :

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5- Computation with a FE code
Results comparison between analytical & discretised solutions
Results computation with two Gauss points

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5- Computation with a FE code
Other examples available on BK-Elearning Site

Example: Rod submitted to its own weight

Shape functions with linear interpolation

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5- Computation with a FE code
Other examples available on BK-Elearning Site
Example: Rod submitted to its own weight with
degree 2 elements with degree 2 elements

Shape functions with quadratic interpolation

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5- Computation with a FE code
Other examples available on BK-Elearning Site
Example: Rod submitted to a centrifugal force

Shape functions with linear interpolation

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 6- Resume

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6- Resume The finite element method states as follow:

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