ME EN 5510/6510 Intro to FEM

Course Syllabus: 130829 (Subject to Revision)

ME 5510/6510 Introduction to Finite Element Method Fall 2013

Course Prerequisites for 5510 students: ME EN 3300, Math 2210/1260/1280, Math 2250
Official Course Description: Practical approach to finiteelement analysis of solid mechanics,
diffusion, and fluid mechanics problems. Introduction to use of commercial finite element
programs. Introduction to theoretical basis; simple elements, element stiffness, boundary
conditions, and modeling considerations.
Class Time: T, TH, 3:40 pm 5:00pm;
Class Room: WEB 2230
Instructor: Michael A. Homel;

Office: MEB 2255, Computational Solid Mechanics
Lab

Text Book: The course text is A First Course in Finite Elements, Jacob Fish & Ted Belytschko
(2007), which is available as a paperback for ~$54

Website: The course will make extensive use of Canvas for homework and lab assignments,
supplemental lecture material, homework hints (via announcement), grades, updates to the course
schedule, etc.

Email: All courserelated email, electronic submissions, etc. should be sent through Canvas. After the
semester, I can be reached at michael.homel@utah.edu.

Cell Phone: (801) 8981051
I am providing my cell number to better meet the needs of the class. Feel free to call for help with
homework, labs, or understanding the course material. Im generally available any time from
11:30am until 1am. Please:

Dont wait until the night before the homework is due and call expecting the solution to the
entire assignment.
Check the Canvas class announcement board, as I will regularly post answers to common
questions, as well as clarifications and hints as the need becomes apparent.
If I am unavailable to take your call, please leave a brief message, identifying yourself as a
student in the FEM class and the method by which you would like me to get back to you.

Office Hours: A regular biweekly office hours session will be held in the CADE lab, during which
time the instructor will provide handson assistance with the lab exercises and will answer
questions related to the homework. These sessions will be tentatively scheduled
Tuesday/Thursday after class, 5:00pm 7:00pm, but this may change based on student feedback;
attendance is optional. Additional office hours can be arranged on an individual basis. Call, text, or
email the instructor to schedule an appointment.

University of Utah Mech. Engineering 50 S. Central Campus Dr. - MEB 2255 Salt Lake City, UT 84112

ME EN 5510/6510 Intro to FEM

Course Syllabus: 130829 (Subject to Revision)

Course Objectives: By the end of the course, you should be able to

1. Use the direct FE method to assemble, enforce boundary conditions, and solve simple
systems for bars, beams, and trusses.
2. Understand the mathematical foundation of the finite element equations and apply a
weighted residual (Galerkins) method to derive the FE element equations in 1D from the
governing ODE.
3. Program and verify a FE code to solve and post process a variety of second order 1D
differential equations.
4. Apply reasonable simplifications (symmetry, defeaturing, etc.) to produce tractable
problems for solution in a commercial FEA code, including good practices for model
generation, meshing, element selection, application of loads and boundary conditions, and
correct solution methods.
5. Post process FEA results to both obtain values of interest for a design application, as well as
to assess solution quality.
6. Understand limitations in the FEA approach, and use verification and validation to test
results from FE analysis.

Grading Policy
The course grade breakdown is as follows:
Midterm Exam (20%), Homework (25%), ANSYS labs (15%), Term Project (20%), Final Exam (20%)

Exams will be curved based on class performance on each problem. The lowest homework OR lab
score will be dropped from either the homework or lab total (whichever is most beneficial). Extra
credit will be awarded (at the instructors discretion) for exceeding the requirements of homework,
lab or term project in a way that demonstrates understanding of the course material. The tentative
grading scale is given below:

059
E

6062
D

6366
D

6769
D+

7072
C

7376
C

7779
C+

8082
B

8386
B

8789
B+

9092
A

93100
A

Homework Policy
Homework Format: For each problem the following format must be adhered to:
Problem: What is given, and what is required? For electronic submission this is most easily done by pasting in a
screen capture of the problem statement.
Solution: Word explanations must accompany equations in a derivation, computer codes should be wellcommented,
and the final result should be boxed or highlighted. If using Matlab, the publish feature can be used to
create a highquality output of the code and comments with figures.
Discussion: Some problems may indicate that discussion is required. Is the answer reasonable? Does the
magnitude, sign, or character of the solution agree with your intuition?
The use of symbolic software (Matlab, Mathematica, Maple, etc.), as well as collaboration on concepts and procedures is
expected, encouraged, and occasionally even required. Collaboration does not sanction copying. You are allowed to
submit only work that you have completed individually. Submitting any work that is not the result of your own effort is

University of Utah Mech. Engineering 50 S. Central Campus Dr. - MEB 2255 Salt Lake City, UT 84112

ME EN 5510/6510 Intro to FEM

Course Syllabus: 130829 (Subject to Revision)

considered cheating. Academic misconduct may result in a failing grade, dismissal from the program or the University,
revocation of the students degree or certificate, or other sanctions. See the Student Handbook for further details.

Homework Submission: Homework is due inclass on the date indicated in the course schedule, and should be
submitted electronically though Canvas. In general the required format will be a single pdf for each
assignment or lab. Modifications to the schedule will be posted to Canvas. Typesetting is preferred for
electronic submission (preferably using symbolic math software), but clear scanned copies are acceptable.
Please use unique file names so the grader will not have to deal with 50 submissions entitled homework.pdf.
The preferred file name structure is as follows:
YYMMDD_HW#_lastname.pdf, for example, homework 3 submitted on May 7 would be:
130507_HW3_homel.pdf
Late Homework: Late homework is accepted with no penalty up to two days after the scheduled submission
due date. Complete homework solutions will be provided prior to each exam. No late work will be accepted
after the solution has been made available.
Bonus policy: Bonus points will be awarded for extra work on assignments if it is (1) clearly beyond the
scope of the assignment, (2) relevant to the assignment, and (3) handed in with the assignment.
Undergraduate (5510) students can receive extra points by working the additional graduate problems in the
homework assignments.

Term Project
A term project will be due on the last day of the final exam period that will allow the student to
apply the skills learned in the course, or explore advanced topics. Students are encouraged to
pursue projects that support ongoing research, senior design, or personal interests. Projects can
involve programming and/or use of commercial FEA software, but must include verification and
documentation. Project detail will be given as the term progresses.

ANSYS Lab
Lab assignments will be given to provide experience with ANSYS, a commercial FEM package.
ANSYS and ANSYS workbench are available in the CADE lab facilities, and are free to students.
Those working from home can access CADE remotely using the NX server. Remote access
information is available at cade.utah.edu/.
A lab demonstration will generally be given inclass on the day the lab is assigned, along with
practical guidance for finite element analysis (FEA) of engineering problems. Additional assistance
will be provided in the weekly CADE office hour session. Lab assignments are due on the date
indicated in the syllabus and must be submitted electronically via Canvas.

Additional Information
Students should consult the University of Utah campus information system academic calendar for
deadlines related to tuition, add/drop/withdrawal dates, appeals procedure and ADA compliance.

University of Utah Mech. Engineering 50 S. Central Campus Dr. - MEB 2255 Salt Lake City, UT 84112

ME EN 5510/6510 Intro to FEM

Course Syllabus: 130829 (Subject to Revision)

Tentative Schedule
Date

Reading

Lecture

Assigned

Due

Tuesday
8/27
Thursday
8/29
Tuesday
9/3
Thursday
9/5

Syllabus, 1.1,1.2,2.1

HW#1 Prereq., 1D systems,

tapered bar

2.2,2.3

Course Overview, Intro to Direct Methods (bar

elements)
Direct Methods, 1D Systems, Tapered Bar Problem,

Lab#1 Handout

FEA: Intro to ANSYS, Lab Demo

HW#1

2.4,2.5,2.6, handout
(dyad method)

Tuesday
9/10

3.0,3.1

Connectivity Algorithm, Enforcing Boundary

Conditions, Truss Systems in 2D and 3D, Matlab
Plane Truss Code
Plane Truss Example, contact, multidegree of
freedom indexing,

Lab#1 Single element

verification, Trusses

Thursday
9/12

3.2,3.3,3.4

Tuesday
9/17
Thursday
9/19
Tuesday
9/24

Lab#2 Handout

Thursday
9/26
Tuesday
10/1
Thursday
10/3
Tuesday
10/8
Thursday
10/10
Tuesday
10/15
Thursday
10/17
Tuesday
10/22
Thursday
10/24
Tuesday
10/29
Thursday
10/31
Tuesday
11/5

4.4,4.5

Global Approximation, Discrete Equations, Deriving

the Element Matrix for a 2Node Element

Lab#3 Handout

FEA: Solution & Post Processing, Lab Demo

4.6, 5.1

FEM Discrete Equations, Gauss Quadrature

FEM Examples: Heat Conduction Discrete Equation
Example,
Generalized Boundary Conditions Strong/Weak/FEM
Solution

3.5,3.6,
4.0, 4.1,4.2,4.3,

5.2, 5.3, 5.4,

3.7*, 5.5*


Lab#4 Handout

3.8*,5.7*

3.9*, Lecture Notes
Lab#5 Handout

Thursday
11/7
Tuesday
11/12

10.1,10.2,10.3,
10.4*
6.1
6.3,7.2,7.3,8.1,8.2

Thur.
11/14
Tuesday
11/19
Thursday
11/21
Tuesday
11/26

Logan Excerpt

Overview of the FEM development ,Strong form and

boundary conditions for stress, heat, and electrical
conduction in 1D
FEA: Meshing and Modeling, Loads and Constraints,
Lab Demo
Strong to weak form for the 1D elastic bar,
Equivalence to Strong Form, Weak Form example,
Interpolation, Approximate solutions , Continuity and
Completeness, Shape Functions

Fall Break
Fall Break
Midterm Review Example Problems
Lab Demo
Midterm Exam (HW# 14, Lab#13)
AdvectionDiffusion Problem, Custom Element Types

HW#2 Connectivity, Plane

Truss, Space Truss

Lab#1

Lab#2 Plane Stress, Meshing,

Point Loads, Constraints

HW#2

HW#3 Strong Form, Weak

Form, approx. solution using
weak form

Lab#2

Lab#3 1D/3D Beams, FEM

Validation

HW#3

HW#4 Shape Functions,

Interpolation

Lab#3

Lab#4 Heat Flow, Contact,

Transient Analysis

HW#4

Intro to Variational Methods,

HW#5 FEM for Simple 1D

problems, Gauss Quadrature

FEA: Nonlinearity (geometric, contact, etc), Lab

Demo, Solution quality, term project examples and
Guidelines
Beam and Shell Elements

Lab#5 Geometric Non

linearity, Eigenbuckling, Term
Projects Assigned

Overview of Finite Element Formulations 2D/3D

Scalar Field Problems

HW#6 Using Custom

Elements, SelfWeight, Thermal
Stresses

Lab#5

Lab#6 ANSYS Workbench:

Geometry Definition & Meshing

HW#6

HW#7Beam Elements and

Simple Multi Element Models

Lab#6

Lab#6 Handout

Direct Stiffness 2D/3D Examples, MultiElement

Models
FEA: Intro to ANSYS Workbench, Lab Demo

TopOpt web site

Topology Optimization Code/Exercises

TopOpt matlab
code

Topology Optimization Code/Exercises

Lab#4

HW#5

University of Utah Mech. Engineering 50 S. Central Campus Dr. - MEB 2255 Salt Lake City, UT 84112

ME EN 5510/6510 Intro to FEM

Course Syllabus: 130829 (Subject to Revision)

Thur.

Thanksgiving Day
11/28
Tuesday
5.6
Convergence, Error Norms, Method of Manufactured
Solutions
12/3
Thursday
Lecture Notes
Intro to Structural Dynamics:, Equations of Motion,
FEA: Modal Analysis
12/5
Tuesday
Lecture Notes
FEA: Nonlinearity (material), Alternatives to FEM
12/10
Thur.

Course Review for Final Exam
12/12
Mon.

Comprehensive Final Exam
12/16
3:30pm5:30pm
Fri


12/20
(*)denotesmaterialfor6510studentsthatwillbecoveredinadditionalhomeworkexercises.

3.7,5.5GeneralizedBoundaryConditions

3.8,5.7Advection/Diffusion

3.9,10.4MinimumPotentialEnergy(Variational)Method

HW#8 Topology Optimization

HW#7

HW#9 Method of
Manufactured Solutions

HW#8

HW#9

Term
Project

University of Utah Mech. Engineering 50 S. Central Campus Dr. - MEB 2255 Salt Lake City, UT 84112