Free Body Diagram - Why Is It Useful in FEA - FEA For All

5.2.2017 FreeBodyDiagram:WhyisitusefulinFEA?
FEAforAll
CAE Topics FEA Webinars FEA Course FEA Books About Me Log In
Free Body Diagram: Why is it useful in FEA?

January 31, 2017 by Cyprien 6 Comments
If you are tackling static* problems with FEA, there is a basic tool that will help you a lot:
The Free Body Diagram (FBD).
If you are trying to analyze static mechanisms, you probably heard this name before
But do you know what it is and how it actually works?
Thats what this article is all about!
*Note: The Free Body Diagram can also be used to analyze dynamic problems if you
introduce translational and rotational accelerations and velocities in your model.
http://feaforall.com/freebodydiagramfea/ 1/18
5.2.2017 FreeBodyDiagram:WhyisitusefulinFEA?FEAforAll
What is the Free Body Diagram? Quick explanation

Mechanical systems tend to be composed of several parts or structural elements
connected together in some way.
The problem is that it may over-complexity the analysis if you consider all that from the
start!
Thats why engineers have found an easy way to conceptualize the structure in which all
connecting parts have been removed: The Free Body Diagram
This Free Body Diagram is a useful tool in FEA analysis as I will show you in this article
How do you draw a Free Body Diagram?

Instead of considering the real physical shape of a part, asingle line or a rectangle
replaces it. Nodes with certain properties or set of forces and moments represent each
connection.
Nodes with certain properties or set of forces and moments represent each connection.
External force vectors replace as well internal forces that exist in the system.
We then draw vectors that re ect the magnitude of the force and orient them in the
direction the force is acting to have a clearer understanding of the system.
Example 1: Drawing the Free Body Diagram of a

Beam
How would you determine the free body diagram for this beam?
1. Replace the beam by a simple segment

2. Remove the wall connection and place it by a force in X and Y directions and a
Moment
3. Apply the 2K force at the other end of the beam
The forces and moments at the wall connection are unknown, but they can be determined
if we suppose that the beam is in equilibrium because they are identical to the internal
forces in the beam before it was cut from the wall.
Fh = 0
Fv = -2kN
M = 2K * 2 = 4 KN.m
For a beam, this system of equations is very simple and so a FBD isnt so useful.
But now consider the following systems:
The corresponding Free body diagram is like this:
The Free body Diagram actually simpli es a lot your job here because it ONLY takes in
account the external loads and constraints and NOT the internal structure.
Why is it useful to use the Free Body Diagram in

FEA?
It happens ( frequently ) that the loading condition is not so simple and that we make some
errors during the assignment of boundary conditions.
Those errors may result in totally wrong results
Free Body diagrams are useful to check that we didnt do any mistake by comparing the
reaction forces that we get from the FEA analysis and the forces calculated by the Free
Body Diagram.
The reaction forces (or moments) obtained from the solver at the constraint points are as
accurate as the Free Body Diagram (FBD) plots produced from them.
Let me give you a useful example of the Free body Diagram
Last Friday, I was invited to give a lecture about nite element analysis to the Ecole
Centrale of Lille in France and I found at the same time a very interesting FEA example
where the Free Body Diagram can help!
Students had to analyze a hook and they had the following details:
Solving the hook problem using the Free Body

Diagram
The hook is suspended from an axis in its upper part and must withstand an effort of
10000N on the lower face which has been modeled. The hook is free to rotate about its
axis to orient itself according to the load.
The material used is an isotropic steel with an elastic modulus E = 200 000 MPa and a
Poissons ratio of 0.266
The model is very simple and the answer seems straightforward and that was the whole
point.
I saw the students rush to x the top of the hook, to apply a vertical load on the lower face,
to mesh and solve.
They got some results but it was false!
A student found the solution

A student with a bit more re ection than the others had the idea to check the reactions at
the upper part where the hook was constrained.
He then called the professor:
Theres something strange, professor, I dont understand why there is a moment acting
at the top of the hook isnt the hook free to rotate?
And that was the whole point!
There shouldnt be a moment there and that was a hint to the fact that the loading of
the hook was wrong.
Now, if the students had the re ex to draw a Free Body Diagram of the hook, they would
have seen immediately the right direction of the loading.
The solution was to apply the load in the same direction than an axis passing through
the hole at the top.
The Reaction that you nd in the software should be equal to the load applied. The
moment should be zero.
Thats a good way to check that your results are correct in this example!
Ok, thats all for today! I hope you will use also the Free Body Diagram in your FEA
analysis toget better results!
//////////////////////////////////////
Do you have some examples of a meaningful usage of the Free Body Diagram in FEA?
If yes, please let me know in the commentIt will help everyone reading this article to
understand better how to perform more ef cient FEA analysis!
Did you like this article? Let me know in the comments and help me to share it on
Linkedin ;-)
Cyprien
SubscribeandGetthe2FreeFEAGuides!
Signupformy
newsletterandget2 Enteryouremailaddresshere...
Free15pagesFEA
GuidesaboutLinear
Dynamicsand SUBSCRIBE&DOWNLOADTHEGUIDES
ThermalAnalysis
Filed Under: basics of mechanics
Comments
Nagraj Thadur says

January 31, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Simply great! Thank you for the article
Reply
mMallappa Madakatti says

February 1, 2017 at 4:09 am
Concept was good simple and clear
Reply
samir says
How conect two system independently so that transmit the same load for FEA?
Reply
Cyprien says
I am not sure to understand what you mean Samir!
Reply
tksinharoy says
Dear Rusu,
Excellent. Two questions:
i) Example related to triangular geometry, once more elaboration of xed end
substitution in FBD is sought. The substitution needs to be for six degrees of freedom.
ii)You must be aware of cable net required for supporting glass facade. Manually how
one can check the pretension & reaction forces?
Reply
jeremy theler says

Nice point. Another solution would be to remove the rigid body rotation mode around
the axis from the stiffness matrix nullspace and solve a least squares problem.
Reply
Leave a Reply
Enteryourcommenthere...
About Me
Free FEA Course
FREEFEACourse
FEA foundations: Table of c...
FEAfoundationsHowtocheckany
mechanicalproductdesignwith
linearstatic
Enteryournamehere...
Enteryouremailaddresshere...
ACCESSTOTHEFREEFEACOURSE
Need Ansys workbench tutorials?
Get now the best Ansys workbench tutorials

available on the internet!
Recent Posts
Free Body Diagram: Why is it useful in

FEA?
Buckling explained simply (with pictures

and video)
How do I calculate the safety factor?
What is frequency response analysis in

FEA
What is FEA modal analysis? | Learn the

basics about it
About me Find videos about FEA
Im an Mechanical Engineer who

would like to share his passion on
Finite Element Analysis to help other FEA What is How to
Buckling frequency perform
Engineers. Read more
analysis of a response modal
pinned- analysis - analysis?
pinned FEA for All
elastic beam
1/83 Next
By PoseLab My YouTube Channel
Copyright since 2013 feaforall All Rights Reserved

Free Body Diagram - Why Is It Useful in FEA - FEA For All

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Free Body Diagram - Why Is It Useful in FEA - FEA For All

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

5.2.2017 FreeBodyDiagram:WhyisitusefulinFEA?

Free Body Diagram: Why is it useful in FEA?

But do you know what it is and how it actually works?

Thats what this article is all about!

What is the Free Body Diagram? Quick explanation

How do you draw a Free Body Diagram?

Example 1: Drawing the Free Body Diagram of a

1. Replace the beam by a simple segment

But now consider the following systems:

The corresponding Free body diagram is like this:

Why is it useful to use the Free Body Diagram in

Those errors may result in totally wrong results

Let me give you a useful example of the Free body Diagram

Solving the hook problem using the Free Body

They got some results but it was false!

A student found the solution

He then called the professor:

And that was the whole point!

Filed Under: basics of mechanics

Nagraj Thadur says

Simply great! Thank you for the article

mMallappa Madakatti says

Concept was good simple and clear

I am not sure to understand what you mean Samir!

jeremy theler says

Free FEA Course

FEA foundations: Table of c...

Need Ansys workbench tutorials?

Get now the best Ansys workbench tutorials

Free Body Diagram: Why is it useful in

Buckling explained simply (with pictures

How do I calculate the safety factor?

What is frequency response analysis in

What is FEA modal analysis? | Learn the

About me Find videos about FEA

Im an Mechanical Engineer who

By PoseLab My YouTube Channel

Copyright since 2013 feaforall All Rights Reserved

S-ar putea să vă placă și