College of Engineering

MEM 681 – Exam-1

Finite Element Analysis

November 08, 2017

The physical problem involves a curved bar which has a body force and a concentrated force
acting on it. Figure 1 shows the schematic sketch of the physical problem.

Figure 1: Schematic representation of the physical problem

The objective of this exam is to solve e problem using a finite element method of analysis. It can be seen
from Figure 1 that the physical problem has a mirror symmetry about the horizontal mid-plane of the bar.
This symmetry plane is used to reduce the size of the FEM model. Figure 2 shows the location of the
symmetry plane and the reduced physical problem.

Figure 2: Reduced FEM Model

To solve the reduced FEM model, 2 FEM elements are used, (1) a 6-node quadratic element (Element-1)
and (2) a 4-node quadratic element (Element-2). The locations of the global and local axes, the global
node numbering and the boundary conditions are shown in Figure-3. Due to symmetry, v2, v4 and v6
would each be equal to 0. In addition, due to being constrained at the end, u7, v7, u8 and v8 would also be
equal to 0.
 Figure 3: Local and global coordinate systems, node numbers and boundary conditions of FEM model

The following essential steps are taken to obtain the solution of the FEM model.

1. Determination of the shape function (H)

The shape functions of each elements are represented for the corresponding isoperimetric element and its
natural coordinate system H(r,s). The isoperimetric elements of the two FEM element are given in Figure
4.

Figure 4: Isoperimetric representation of FEM elements, (a) Element-1 (b) Element-2

The shape functions hi (r,s) are then given by:

Element-1

1
ℎ15 = (1 − 𝑟 2 )(1 + 𝑠)
2
1
ℎ16 = (1 − 𝑟 2 )(1 − 𝑠)
2
1 1
ℎ13 = (1 + 𝑟)(1 + 𝑠) − ℎ5
4 2
1 1
ℎ14 = (1 + 𝑟)(1 − 𝑠) − ℎ6
4 2
1 1
ℎ17 = (1 − 𝑟)(1 + 𝑠) − ℎ5
4 2
1 1
ℎ18 = (1 − 𝑟)(1 − 𝑠) − ℎ6
4 2
Element-2

1
ℎ12 = (1 + 𝑟)(1 + 𝑠)
4
1
ℎ22 = (1 + 𝑟)(1 − 𝑠)
4
1
ℎ32 = (1 − 𝑟)(1 + 𝑠)
4
 1
ℎ42 = (1 − 𝑟)(1 − 𝑠)
4

2. Determination of the Jacobian Matrix

For a two-dimensional element, the coordinate interpolates that express the local coordinates as a function
of r and s are given by:
𝑛 𝑛

𝑥𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑥𝑖 ; 𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑦𝑖
𝑖=1 𝑖=1

Where xlocal and ylocal are coordinates at any point of the element and xi, yi, i = 1, …. n are the coordinates
of the n nodes. The shape functions hi, as stated above, are a function of r and s. The Jacobian operator
relates the natural coordinate derivatives to the local coordinate derivatives. In general:

𝜕 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑥
=
𝜕 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕
𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑦

Substituting for xlocal and ylocal, the Jacobian matrix is given by:

𝜕 ∑𝑛𝑖=1 ℎ𝑖 𝑥𝑖 𝜕 ∑𝑛𝑖=1 ℎ𝑖 𝑦𝑖
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟
𝑱 =
𝜕 ∑𝑛𝑖=1 ℎ𝑖 𝑥𝑖 𝜕 ∑𝑛𝑖=1 ℎ𝑖 𝑦𝑖
𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑠

Using the above procedure, the Jacobian matrices for the two elements are:

𝑠 𝑟(𝑠 + 1) 1
1 + +
2 2 2
𝑱𝟏 =
𝑟2 𝑟 1
0 + +
4 2 2

1
0
𝟐 2
𝑱 =

0 5/4
3. Determination of the strain-displacement matrix B(r,s)

The strain-displacement matrix, B, is obtained by differentiation of the displacement shape functions with
respect to r and s and multiplying the result by the inverse of the Jacobian operator. The element
displacements are interpolated in the same way as the geometry interpolation; i.e.,
𝑛 𝑛

𝑢 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑢𝑖 ; 𝑣 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑣𝑖
𝑖=1 𝑖=1

Where u and v are local element displacements at any point of the element and ui, vi, i = 1, …. n are the
element displacements at the n nodes. The shape functions hi, as stated earlier, are a function of r and s.
The global nodal displacement vector is expressed as;

𝑈 𝑇 = [𝑢1 𝑢2 𝑢3 𝑢4 𝑢5 𝑢6 𝑢7 𝑢8 𝑣1 𝑣2 𝑣3 𝑣4 𝑣5 𝑣6 𝑣7 𝑣8

Using the same expression, the displacement interpolation functions for two elements is given by:

Element-1
16 16

𝑢1 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑢𝑖 ; 𝑣1 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑣𝑖
𝑖=1 𝑖=1

Element-2
16 16

𝑢2 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑢𝑖 ; 𝑣2 = ∑ ℎ𝑖 𝑣𝑖
𝑖=1 𝑖=1

The strain-displacement transformation a point is given by the following relationship:

𝜀𝑖𝑗 = 𝐵𝑖𝑗 . 𝑢

𝑢1
𝜕𝑢
𝜀𝑥𝑥
𝜕𝑟
⋮

𝑢8
𝜕𝑣
𝜀𝑦𝑦 =
𝜕𝑠
𝑣1

⋮
𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑣
𝜀𝑥𝑦 +
𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑟
𝑣8
 𝑢1
𝜀𝑥𝑥
⋮

𝑢8
𝜀𝑦𝑦 = 𝑩(3𝑥16)
𝑣1

⋮
𝜀𝑥𝑦
𝑣8

4. Determination of Stiffness matrix

In terms of the local coordinate system and for a constant thickness of material, t, the stiffness matrix, K,
for each element is given by:

𝐾 𝑖 = ∫ 𝐵𝑖,𝑇 . 𝐶. 𝐵𝑖 . 𝑑𝑣𝑜𝑙
𝑣𝑜𝑙

Where i is the number of elements (1 and 2). C is the material property matrix and is given by:

1 𝑣 0
𝐸
𝐶 = 𝑣 1 0
1 − 𝑣2
1−𝑣
0 0
2

Where E and v are the modulus of elasticity and Poison’s ratio respectively. In terms of the natural
coordinate system:

𝐾 𝑖 = 𝑡. ∬ 𝐵𝑖,𝑇 . 𝐶. 𝐵𝑖 . 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐽. 𝑑𝑟𝑑𝑠

𝑟𝑠

𝐾 𝑖 = 𝑡. ∬ 𝐹𝑟,𝑠
𝑖
. 𝑑𝑟𝑑𝑠
𝑟𝑠

Using 2x2 Gauss formula for numerical integration in two dimension (r,s)
 𝐾 𝑖 = 𝑡. ∬ 𝐹𝑟𝑖 . 𝑑𝑟𝑑𝑠 = ∑ 𝑡𝑖𝑗 . 𝛼𝑖𝑗 . 𝐹𝑖𝑗
𝑟𝑠 𝑖,𝑗

Where 𝛼𝑖𝑗 = 1.0 is the weighting factor for the element at two sampling points (𝑟𝑖, 𝑠𝑗, ) based on Guess
formulation and the integration points are taken +1/√3 and−1/√3. The global K matrix is then given by:

𝐾 = 𝐾1 + 𝐾 2

Table 1 shows the numerical results of the global stiffness matrix.

Table 1: Global Stiffness Matrix (K) x 105

4.235 -0.801 -1.316 -2.118 0.000 0.000 1.975 -0.944 0.000

-0.801 4.235 -2.118 -1.316 0.000 0.000 -0.944 1.975 0.000
-1.316 -2.118 12.528 2.048 -7.016 -5.194 0.944 0.746 -1.328
-2.118 -1.316 2.048 12.528 -5.194 -7.016 -1.975 -0.357 3.343
0.000 0.000 -7.016 -5.194 13.818 3.276 0.000 2.030 -2.808
0.000 0.000 -5.194 -7.016 3.276 13.818 0.000 -3.678 1.343
1.975 -0.944 0.944 -1.975 0.000 0.000 4.235 -0.801 0.000
-0.944 1.975 0.746 -0.357 2.030 -3.678 -0.801 11.566 -5.596
0.000 0.000 -1.328 3.343 -2.808 1.343 0.000 -5.596 12.536

5. Determination of element nodal body force vector RB(i)

The body force vector for each element is obtained using the matrices 𝐻𝑖𝑗 ,𝑓𝐵 𝑖𝑗 , det(𝐽𝑖𝑗 ) and thickness t
using the following equation.

𝑅𝐵 𝑖 = ∑ 𝑡𝑖𝑗 . 𝛼𝑖𝑗 . 𝐻𝑖𝑗 𝑇 𝑓𝐵 𝑖𝑗 ∗ 𝑡 ∗ det(𝐽𝑖𝑗 )

𝑖,𝑗

Where 𝛼𝑖𝑗 = 1.0 is the weighting factor for the element at two sampling points (𝑟𝑖, 𝑠𝑗, ) based on Guess
formulation and the integration points are taken +1/√3 and−1/√3.
Surface body force is provided to 50N at node 2 of element2

𝑅𝐶 𝑇 = [0 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]

The global R matrix is then given by:

𝑹 = 𝑹𝑩 (𝒊) + 𝑹𝑪

The numerical result of R is given below:

15 215 71 71 14 14
𝑅𝑇 = [ 0 0 0]
4 4 12 12 3 3

6. Boundary Condition

Imposing V2 , V4 and V6 = 0 due to symmetry at node 2, 4 and 6 respectively, and imposing

U7 , V7 , U8 and V8 = 0 due to fixed constrained at nodes 7 and 8, the global stiffness matrix and applied
loads will reduce from 16x16 to 9x9matrix after deleting the rows and columns for each boundary
imposed.

Solving with MATLAB both 𝑲 and 𝑹 , we can solve the unknown node displacements

𝑲′(𝟗𝒙𝟗) . 𝑼′(𝟗𝒙𝟏) = 𝑹′(𝟗𝒙𝟏)

Where the unknown node displacements are:

𝑈 𝑇 = [𝑢1 𝑢2 𝑢3 𝑢4 𝑢5 𝑢6 𝑣1 𝑣3 𝑣5 ]

1.859
3.212
1.648
1.664
U= 10-4 1.234
1.115
0.172
-0.454
-0.315
7. Determination of Strain Components εxx and εyy

𝜀𝑖𝑗 = 𝐵𝑖𝑗 . 𝑢
In which

𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑣
𝜀𝑥𝑥 = , 𝜀𝑦𝑦 = , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜀𝑥𝑦 = +
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥

Using the Jacobian operator, we can relate the local and natural coordinates

𝜕 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑥
=
𝜕 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕
𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑦
Therefor:

𝜕 𝜕
−𝟏
𝜕𝑥 𝑱 𝜕𝑟
=
𝜕 𝜕
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑠

𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢
𝑱−𝟏
𝟏,𝟏 𝑱−𝟏
𝟏,𝟐
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑟
=
𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢
𝑱−𝟏
𝟐,𝟏 𝑱−𝟏
𝟐,𝟐
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑠

And:

𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣
𝑱−𝟏 −𝟏
𝟏,𝟏 𝑱𝟏,𝟐
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑟
=
𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣
𝑱−𝟏 −𝟏
𝟐,𝟏 𝑱𝟐,𝟐
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑠
Figure 5 and 6 below show the plots for the FEM determined εxx and εyy as a function of te global axial
position X along the bottom surface and the top surface of the elements respectively.
 Figure 6: Strain plot along the bottom surface of element 1 & 2

Figure 6: Strain plot along the top surface of element 1 & 2

Figure 5 and 6
represent the strain results of the FEM analysis done on only the top portion of the bar. Symmetry would
play a major role in finding the strain for the whole bar. Along the symmetry plane, the strain results must
be added together for the bottom and the top halves of the bar. In this case, εyy would be of the same
magnitude but opposite in sign for the two halves. Therefore, εyy would ultimately be 0 along the mid line
of the bar.

By using isoperimetric FEM formulation, rigorous and complicated finite element formulation with local
element coordinates was simplified to easily determined shape functions in the elements natural
coordinates.