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where K(e) is the element’s stiffness matrix, U(e) is the element’s displacements vector and
F(e) is the element’s forces vector.
In the assembly step the equilibrium equations from all elements are compiled into a global
system of linear equations using the superposition principle:
KU = F
Finally this system is solved to find unknown displacements and reaction forces.
Frequently, bar, beam, spring and joint elements are formulated using the DSM.
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Finite Truss element
Elements
Truss element
In a truss element, all displacements are evaluated at
nodes. Stress and strain along the element are calcu-
lated using nodal displacements. When a load F is ap-
plied on a truss member, the strain at a point is given
by the following relationship:
∆L
ε= L
du Before
= dx
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Finite Truss element
Elements
or in short as:
K(e) U(e) = F(e)
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Finite 2D truss element
Elements
2D truss element
In 2D space and since a bar element can be inclined by
an angle θ, it is considered 2 displacements per node;
for example, in x and y directions. Thus, it is said that
each node has 2 degrees of freedom (dof).
For convenience, the formulation of a plane truss el-
ement is based on the equilibrium equation for a 1D
truss element. In this case, overbars are used to repre-
sent variables in the element coordinates:
u2y
Nodal forces
or in short:
Ū(e) = TU(e)
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Finite 2D truss element
Elements
TT F̄(e) = F
TT K̄(e) TU = F
Nodal displacements
where the stiffness matrix from the plane truss element
is given by K(e) = TT K̄(e) T
Finally, the matrix equilibrium equation for a plane
truss element is given by:
2
cs −c2 −cs
c u1x F1x
cs
EA s2 −cs −s2 u F
1y 1y
−c2
L −cs c2 cs u2x F2x
3D truss element
The same approach as for truss elements in 2D space
can be used. In 3D truss elements 3 displacements per
node should be considered.
The directional unit vector of a two node truss element
can be easily calculated from nodal coordinates vectors
x1 and x2 :
x2 −x1
n̂ = kx2 −x1 k
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Finite 3D truss element
Elements
Nodal displacements
and the stiffness matrix is given by:
Nodal forces
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Finite Truss system
Elements
Truss system
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Finite Global matrices assembly
Elements
2
Using the superposition principle, a global system of
linear equations is assembled from interconnected finite
elements as: 1 2
1
Truss structure
KU = F
1 2 3
{
{
{
{ 1
where K is the global stiffness matrix, U and F are now { 2
global displacements and forces vectors, respectively. {
3
Vector U contains all displacement degrees of freedom
Stiffness contribution
from the system. It includes support conditions and from element 1
other prescribed displacements.
{ 1
The global stiffness matrix is usually sparse. Proper { 2
node numbering can reduce the bandwidth in stiffness {
3
matrices.
Force contribution
Frequently, sparse solvers are required for large finite from node 1
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Finite System solution
Elements
System solution
Once global stiffness matrix and global vectors are assembled, it is time to find the unknown
nodal values.
It is convenient to reorganize the system Ku=F in order to solve for unknown displacements.
This reorganization leads to the following subdivision:
" # ! " #
K11 K12 U1 F1
=
K21 K22 U2 F2
In the equation above U1 contains the unknown displacements and F2 the unknown reactions.
U2 contains prescribed displacements and F2 contains prescribed forces.
This equation can be decomposed in the following two equations:
K11 U1 + K12 U2 = F1
K21 U1 + K22 U2 = F2
The first equation leads to the following system which is used to find the unknown displace-
ments U1 :
K11 U1 = F1 − K12 U2
Once U1 is found, reaction forces F2 are calculated using the second equation.
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Finite System solution
Elements
A simple way to determine the unknown displacements when all prescribed displacements
are equal to zero is by the use of the Zeros-and-ones Method. The original system is modified
by replacing some terms with zeros and ones in order to guarantee the values of prescribed
displacements.
For instance, consider the system below:
K11 K12 K13 K14 K15 K16 u1x F1x
K21 K22 K23 K14 K25 K26 u1y F1y
K K32 K33 K14 K35 K36
u2x F2x
31
=
K41 K42 K43 K14 K45 K46 u2y F2y
K51 K52 K53 K14 K55 K56 u3x F3x
K61 K62 K63 K14 K65 K66 u3y F3y
If displacements u2x , u3x and u3y are prescribed and equal to zero, then the system of
equations is modified to:
K11 K12 0 K14 0 0 u1x F1x
K21 K22 0 K14 0 0 u1y F1y
u2x 0
0 0 1 0 0 0
=
K41 K42 0 K14 0 0 u2y F2y
0 0 0 0 1 0 u3x 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 u3y 0
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Finite Beam element
Elements
Exercises
1. Find nodal displacements and reaction forces in the truss system. Solve the linear
system by separating unknown displacements. Later solve the system using the zeros-
and-ones method. Use P = 10 kN and EA = 2000 kN. The lengths for elements 1 and
2 are 1 m and 0.8 m, respectively.
2 2
1
3
1
3
2. Find the finite element equations for a spring element in 2D and 3D.
3. Find the displacements of node 2 in the spring system below. Each spring stiffness is
equal to 1000 kN/m and P = 7.07 kN.
1 2
3
4
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Finite Beam element
Elements
Beam element
For a conventional beam element we consider four dis-
placement degrees of freedom that are collected into a
vector of displacements as:
h iT
Ue = v1 θ1 v2 θ2
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Finite Beam element
Elements
Using the Displacement Method it is possible to find each component of the beam stiff-
ness matrix. In this method unit deflections and rotations are applied individually and the
corresponding reaction forces are computed.
For example, if we apply a unit displacement v1 = 1 at
the left end, we can write the following relation based
on the reaction forces:
12EI
k11 0 0 0 1 L3
6EI
k 0 0 0 0
Unit deflection
21 L2
= 12EI at left end
k31 0 0 0 0 − 3
L
k41 0 0 0 0 6EI
L2
As can be seen, reaction forces above represent the components of the first two columns
of the beam stiffness matrix. Unit displacements can be applied at the right end to get
remaining components.
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Finite Beam element
Elements
d v 3
V (x) = EI dx3 = c1
d v 2
M (x) = EI dx2 = c1 x + c2
2
dv
θ(x) = dx = 1
EI c1 x2 + c2 x + c3
3 2
v(x) = v = 1
EI c1 x6 + c2 x2 + c3 x + c4
External forces
where c1 , ..., c4 are constants to be determined.
Beam element with no
Applying displacement boundary conditions at both
distributed loading
nodes we get the following relations in terms of con-
stants c1 , ..., c4 :
1
v1 = v(0) = EI c4
dv 1
θ1 = dx (0) = EI c3
3 2
v2 = v(L) = EI1
c1 L6 + c2 L2 + c3 L + c4
2
dv
θ2 = dx (L) = 1
EI c1 L2 + c2 L + c3
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Finite Beam element
Elements
Substituting the expressions for c1 and c2 in the last equations we get the finite element equa-
tions for the beam element:
12 6L −12 6L v1 V1
6L 4L 2 2
−6L 2L θ1 M1
EI
=
L3 −12 −6L
12 −6L v2 V2
Proceeding with successive integrations as before we arrive to the following system of equa-
tions:
12 6L −12 6L v1 V1 6
6L 4L2 2
−6L 2L θ1 M1
L
EI qL
= +
L3 −12 −6L
12 −6L v2 V2 12
6
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Finite Frame element
Elements
Frame element
The finite element equations from a beam element can be combined with the equations of
the truss element in order to incorporate the calculations of axial deformations. The results
is the so called frame element whose finite element equations are given in the following linear
system:
EA
− EA
L 0 0 L 0 0
12EI 6EI u1 F1
− 12EI 6EI
0 0
L3 L2 L3 L2 v1 V 1
6EI 4EI 6EI 2EI
0 0 − L2
L2 L L
θ1 M1
=
EA EA u F
− L 0 0 L 0 0
2 2
0 − 12EI − 6EI 0 12EI 6EI
− L2 v
2 V 2
L3 L2 L3
θ2 M2
6EI 2EI
0 L2 L 0 − 6EI
L2
4EI
L
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Finite Frame element
Elements
The equations for a frame element inclined by an angle θ in an orthonormal xy system can
be easily formulated by the use of a transformation matrix that relates nodal displacements
to the local system, thus:
u1 c s 0 0 0 0 u1x
v1 −s c 0 0 0 0 v1y
θ 0 0 1 0 0 0 θ1
1
=
u2 0 0 0 c s 0 u2x
v2 0 0 0 −s c 0 v2y
θ2 0 0 0 0 0 1 θ2
where c = cos(θ) and s = sin(θ). This equation can be written in short as:
Ū = TU
Likewise, forces in the xy system are related to forces in the local system as:
TT F̄ = F
Combining these two equations with the local equilibrium equation, K̄Ū = F̄, we end up
with the stiffness matrix for a frame element in the xy system as:
K = TT K̄T
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Finite Exercises
Elements
Exercises
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Finite Suggested bibliography
Elements
Suggested bibliography
1. H.L. Soriano, Elementos Finitos: Formulação e Aplicação na Estática e Dinâmica das
Estruturas, Ciência Moderna, 2009.
2. C.A. Felippa, Introduction to Finite Element Methods, Lecture notes, Colorado, 2001.
3. J.N. Reddy, An Introduction to the Finite Element Method, Third edition, McGraw
Hill, 2005.
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