Introduc)on

to the
Finite Element Method
 INTRODUCTION

FDM FEM
Method of Solu,on Replacing deriva,ves with Reformula,on of
dierence quo)ents dieren,al equa,on as an
involving the values of the equivalent varia)onal
unknown at certain points problem

Complicated Geometry
Nonlinearity
General BCs and variables
General purpose soBware
 EXAMPLES
LEGO

Approxima,on of the Area of the Circle

1 2
Area of one triangle: Si = R sin i
2
Area of a circle:
N
1 2 " 2 %
SN = Si = R N sin $ ' R 2 as N
i=1 2 #N &
 Approaches to FEM
Physical Approach
Deec,on strain stress
Precursor of FEM
Matrix analysis methods of structures

Varia)onal Approach
Uses calculus of varia,ons
 One-Dimensional Problems

 2D Problems
Laplaces Equa)on
Electromagne,sm
Steady-state distribu,on of heat in a plane reqion
Seepage problem
Poissons Equa)on
 GENERAL PROCEDURE
1. Construct nite element mesh
2. Deriva)on of element equa)ons for all typical
elements in the mesh
a. Interpola,ng func,ons
b. Formula,on of weak form
c. Subs,tu,on of assumed solu,on
3. Assemble the equa)ons
4. Solu)on of linear system
a. Impose boundary condi,ons
b. Find the solu,ons
5. Post-processing of results
 Step 1: Discre)za)on
Discre)za)on of the domain into a collec,on of preselected nite
elements
Type of Finite Elements

Elements should characterize governing equa,ons

 Step 1: Discre)za)on
a. Construct the nite element mesh of the preselected elements
b. Number the nodes and the elements
c. Generate the geometric proper,es needed for the problem

 Step 2: Element Equa)ons
For all typical elements in the mesh:
a. Assume solu,on of tnhe form
e

uh = u j j (x) e e Approxima,on func,ons
over the element
j=1
Values of the solu,on u(x) at the nodes of the nite element
b. Construct the varia%onal formula%on of the given DE over
the typical element
c. Subs,tute assumed solu,on in step 2a into step 2b to
obtain element equa,ons in the form
!"K e #${ue } = {F e }
 Step 2: Element Equa)ons
a. Assumed Solu)on
LINE ELEMENTS for 1D PROBLEMS

Assumed solu,on

Interpola)on func)ons
 Step 2: Element Equa)ons
a. Assumed Solu)on
TRIANGULAR ELEMENTS
Assumed solu,on
y
2

Interpola)on func)ons
3

x where
 Step 2: Element Equa)ons
a. Assumed Solu)on
RECTANGULAR ELEMENTS Assumed solu,on

Interpola)on func)ons

where
 Step 2: Element Equa)ons
b. Varia)onal Formula)on
Galerkin approach
Formula,on of the problem (dieren,al equa,on)
for each element
Weighted residual integral equated to zero
Weigh,ng factors are chosen to be the shape
func)ons
 Example 1
Consider the 1D boundary value problem

d " du %
$ a ' + cu f = 0 for 0 < x < L
dx # dx &

subjected to the boundary condi,ons
! du $
u(0) = u0 , # a & = Q0
" dx % x=L

where a = a(x), c = c(x), f= f(x), and u0 and Q0 are the

known quan,,es of the problem
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons

For all typical elements in the mesh:

a. Assume solu,on of tnhe form
e

uh = u j j (x) e e Approxima,on func,ons
over the element
j=1
Values of the solu,on u(x) at the nodes of the nite element
b. Construct the varia%onal formula%on of the given DE over
the typical element
c. Subs,tute assumed solu,on in step 2a into step 2b to
obtain element equa,ons in the form
!"K e #${ue } = {F e }
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons
2.a. Assume the form of solu,on over a typical
nite element
The polynomial approxima,on of the solu,on within a typical
nite element e is assumed to be of the form

n
uhe = uej ej (x)
j=1
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons
2.b. Construct the weighted residual or weak
form of the dieren,al equa,on
Step 1: Mul,ply the governing dieren,al
equa,on with a weight func,on w and integrate
over a typical element.
xb ( +
d " du %
0 = * $ a ' + cu f -wdx
xa
) dx # dx & ,
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons
2.b. Construct the weighted residual or weak
form of the dieren,al equa,on
Step 2: Trade dieren,a,on from u to w
using integra,on by parts

xb
" dw du
xb % ) du ,
0 = $a + cwu wf 'dx +wa .
xa #
dx dx & * dx -xa
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons
2.b. Construct the weighted residual or weak
form of the dieren,al equa,on
Step 3: Iden,fy the primary and secondary
variables of the weak form
Primary Variable
Essen,al/Dirichlet BC
xb
xb " dw du % ) du ,
0 = $a + cwu wf 'dx +wa .
xa #
dx dx & * dx -xa
Secondary Variable
Natural/Neumann BC
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons
At the end points, the boundary condi,ons are,
e " du % " du %
uh (xa ) = u1 , $ a ' = Q1 , uh (xb ) = u2 , $ a ' = Q2e
e e e e

# dx &x=x a
# dx &x=x b

The weak form becomes,
" dw du
xb %
0 = $a + cwu wf 'dx w(xa )Q1 w(xb )Q2
xa #
dx dx &
Element Equa,ons
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons
2.c. Derive the nite element equa,ons by n
subs,tu,ng the approximate solu,on uhe = uej ej (x)
into the weak form
j=1

xb " dw du %
0 = $a + cwu wf 'dx w(xa )Q1 w(xb )Q2
xa #
dx dx &
n
uhe = uej ej (x) w = (x)
j=1
 " die due
xb %
0 = $a + ci u i f 'dx ie (xa )Q1 ie (xb )Q2
e e e
xa
# dx dx &
n
u = u (x)
e
h
e
j
e
j
j=1

" d e " n
xb d e% " n % % n
0 = $$ a 1 $$ u j
e j
'' + c1 $$ u j j '' 1 f 'dx 1e (x ej )Q ej
e e e e
' Equa,on 1
# dx # j=1 dx &
xa
# j=1 & & j=1

" d e " n
xb d e% " n % % n
0 = $$ a 2 $$ uej j
'' + c 2e $$ uej ej '' 2e f 'dx 2e (x ej )Q j
' Equa,on 2
xa
# dx # j=1 dx & # j=1 & & j=1

!
xb
" d e " n d e% " n % % n
0 = $$ a n $$ uej j
'' + c ne $$ uej ej '' ne f 'dx ne (x ej )Q ej
' Equa,on n
xa
# dx # j=1 dx & # j=1 & & j=1
 n
0 = K ijeuej fi e Qie
j=1

where
e
!xbdie
d e
j e e
$ e xb
K ij = ## a + ci j &&dx fi = f ie dx
xa
" dx dx % xa

K11e u1e + K12e u2e ++ K1ne une = f1e + Q1e

e e e e e e
K 21u1 + K 22 u2 ++ K 2n un = f2e + Q2e

e e e e e e
K n1u1 + K n2 u2 ++ K nn un = fne + Qne
!"K e #${ue } = { f e } + {Q e }
Linear Element: x = 1 x / hee
1 () e
()
x = x / he
2

e he ( " 1 %" 1 % " x %" x %+ ae 1

K =
11 a
* e$ '$ +
' e$c 1 '$1 '-d x = + ce he
0
) # he &# he & # he &# he &, he 3

e e he ( " 1 %" 1 % " x% x+ a 1

K =K =
12 21 *ae $ '$ ' + ce $1 ' -d x = e + ce he
0
) # he &# he & # he & he , he 6

e he ! 1 1 x x$ ae 1
K =
22 0
a
# e
" he he
+ ce &
he he %
d x = + ce he
he 3

e he " x% 1
f =
1 0
fe $1 'd x = fe he
# he & 2
e he x 1
f =
2 0
fe d x = fe he
he 2
 Example 1
Step 2: Element Equa)ons
Finite Element Matrices
!"K e #${ue } = { f e } + {Q e }
where

a ! 1 1 # c h ! 2 1 #
!"K #$ = &
e e
' + e e
& '
he " 1 1 $ 6 " 1 2 $

fe he ! 1 $
e
{f }= 2 " 1 %
# &
 Example 1
Step 3: Assembly
3. Assembly of Element Equa,ons to obtain the
equa,ons of the whole problem
a. Inter-element con,nuity condi,ons (primary
variables)
u11 = U1, u12 = u12 = U 2 , u2N1 = u1N = U N , u2N = U N+1

b. Equilibrium condi,ons (secondary variables)
e e+1
!# 0 If no external point source applied
Q +Q ="
#$ QI If an external point source of
n n

magnitude QI is applied
 Example 1
3.c. Assemble the equa,ons
! 1 1 $' ' + ' +
K K 0 +
&) U1 ) ) f11 Q 1

# K 1 K 1 + K 2
# 11 ) ) )
12 1

21 22 11 K122 &) U ) ) f21 + f12 ) ) Q21 + Q12 )

# &) 2 ) )
# 2
K 21 2
K 22 + K113 &( U3 , = ( f22 + f13
) ) 2
, + ( Q2 + Q13
)
,
# N &) ) ) ) ) )
# K12 &) ) ) ) ) )
# N & ) U1 ) ) f2N ) ) Q2N )
#"
N
0 K 21 K 22 &% * - * - * -

4. Imposi,on of boundary condi)ons

 Example 1
4. Imposi,on of boundary condi)ons
a. Iden,fy the specied global primary degrees of freedom
b. Iden,fy the specied global secondary degrees of freedom

5. Solu)on of assembled equa,ons

6. Postprocessing of results

 EXAMPLE
(Axial deforma%on of a bar) The governing dieren,al
equa,on is of the form (E and A are constant):

d " du %
$ EA ' = 0 for 0 < x < L
dx # dx &

For the minimum number of linear elements, determine
the (a) displacements of points 2 and 3 and, (b) stresses on
the bars
2AE AE
P
L L
 EXAMPLE
Solu)on:
1. Discre,za,on
f1, u1 2AE f2, u2 f2, u2 AE f3, u3

1 1 2 2 2 3

2. Element Equa,ons
! 1 % ! 1 % ! 2 % ! 2 %
# f1 # ( 2AE ) ) 1 1 ,# u1 # # f1 # AE 1 1 # u1 #
) ,
" 1 &= + ." 1 & " 2 &= + ." 2 &
#$ f 2 #' L * 1 1 -# u #
$ 2 ' #$ f 2 #' L * 1 1 -#$ u2 #'
 Physical Approach
3. Assembly u11 = u1, u12 = u12 = u2 u22 = u3

! f % ) 2 2 0 ,! u1 %
1
# # AE + .# #
" f2 & = + 2 3 1 ." u2 &
# # L + 0 1 1 .# u #
#$ f3 #' * -#$ 3 #'
4. Solu,on
Impose condi,ons: u1 = 0, f2 = 0, f3 = P
Unknown displacements:
AE " 3 1 %(* u2 ,* ( 0 , !# u %#
2 PL ! 0.5 %
$ ') -=) - " &= " &
L # 1 1 &*+ u3 *. + P . u
#$ 3 #' AE $ 1.5 '

Stresses:
!u $ P "u u % P
(1) = E # 2 & = (2) = E $ 3 2 ' =
" L % 2A # L & A
 Wave Equa)on
Consider the problem
2
u tt = c u xx
subjected to the boundary and ini,al condi,ons

u(0, t) = u0 (t ) ux (L, t) = 0

u(x, 0) = u0 ( x ) ut ( x, 0 ) = v ( x )
 References
J.N. Reddy, An Introduc%on to the Finite
Element Method, 3rd Ed., McGraw-Hill 2006

Y. Liu, Lecture Notes: Introduc,on to the

Finite Element Method