Finite Element Method

MV - 6251

By
Cap. Dr. Riessom W/Giorgis

FEM Dr. Riessom 1

 Personal Expectation
Who am I?
Who are you?
Short presentation of yourself
What do you expect from this course?
How do we cover the entire course within the stipulated
time?

FEM Dr. Riessom 2

 Course Delivery
I would like to keep the lesson interactive
Everyone of us has his/her own experience
I highly value your inputs, I think that will
benefit everybody
The idea is to interchange opinions and points
of view
Mutual learning

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 Student Evaluation Scheme
As per the course syllabus the mark distribution is
supposed to be:
Test1 10% on the first two chapters
Test 2 10% on the next two chapters
Assignment 10%
Course project 30%
Final semester Exam 40%

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 Course Description
Basic concepts of finite element method. Steps involved in FEM. Use
of bar and beam elements in structural analysis. Bar Element –
Stiffness matrix formulation by direct and polynomial methods.
Boundary condition and assemblage concepts. Beam element
characteristics matrix. Global, local, natural coordinates - Numerical
Integration.
Rectangular elements - Quadratic quadrilateral elements - Linear
Triangular elements - 2D elements applications for plane stress,
plane strain and axi-symmetric problems. Numerical integration
schemes. Iso Parametric elements - 1D & 2D problems in Solid
mechanics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer by conduction and
convection. Torsion of non circular shaft - axisymmetric problem -
acoustic vibration. Dynamics problems representation in FE.
Case Studies like Structural analysis of Chassis Frame, Heat transfer
analysis of piston, fins, Whirling speed of propeller shaft, contact
analysis of gears, modal analysis of suspension system etc. FE
software package review.
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 Course Content
The entire course consists of the following major
topics:
1. Overview of Finite Element Methods
2. Finite Element Formulation
3. One-dimensional Analysis
4. Two-dimensional Analysis
5. Three-dimensional Analysis
6. Dynamic Analysis
7. FEM Software
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 Course Objective
At the end of the course, it is expected that
everyone of you will have:
Sufficient knowledge of mathematical foundation of
Finite Element Methods;
Skill in developing FEM computer programs for
engineering problems;
Skill in using commercial FEM packages to model
and solve practical engineering problems.

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 Course Project
In this project you will be required to
Choose an engineering system of your interest related
to motor vehicle
Develop the finite element model using Matlab
Solve the problem using commercial software
Present and discuss the results

Project grade will depend on

1. Originality of the idea
2. Techniques used
3. Critical discussion

FEM Dr. Riessom 8

Don’t say you don’t have enough time.
You have exactly the same number of
hours per day that were given to Helen
Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother
Teresa, Leonardo Davinci, Thomas
Jefferson and Albert Einstein!
(H. Jackson Brown)

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 Lecture -1

Introduction to FEM

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Methods of Engineering Analysis
There are three approaches usually followed to undertake
any engineering analysis.
 Experimental methods
Accurate but it needs man power and materials. So, it is
time consuming and costly process.
Analytical methods
Quick and closed to the solution but for simple
geometries and simple loading conditions.
Numerical or approximate methods.
Approximate but acceptable solution for problems
involving complex material properties and loading.
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 Numerical Methods
The common three numerical methods are:
Functional approximation
Rayleigh-Ritz (variation approach) for complex
structural
Weighted residual method for solving non-structural
Finite Difference Method
For heat transfer, fluid and structural mechanics
This method is difficult to use when regions have
curved or irregular boundaries
Finite Element Method
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Modeling a physical problem
Physical Problem Change physical
problem

Mathematical Improve
mathematical
Model model

Numerical model

No!
Does answer
Refine analysis
make sense?

YES! Design improvements

Structural optimization
Happy 
FEM Dr. Riessom 13
 Finite Element Method
Finite element method is a numerical method for
solving problems of Engineering and Mathematical
Physics.
So, Finite element method can be viewed simply as a
method of finding an approximate solution for any
differential equations.
Or as a tool to transform partial differential equations
into algebraic equations, which are then easily solved.
In this method the body is considered as an assemblage
of elements connected at a finite number of Nodes.
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 History of Finite Element Methods
1941 – Hrenikoff proposed framework method
1943 – Courant used principle of stationary potential energy
and piecewise function approximation
1953 – Stiffness equations were written and solved using digital
computers.
1960 – Clough made up the name “finite element method”
1970s – FEA carried on “mainframe” computers
1980s – FEM code run on PCs
2000s – Parallel implementation of FEM (large-scale analysis,
virtual design)

Clough
Courant

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Applications of Finite Element Methods

Structural & Stress Analysis

Thermal Analysis
 Dynamic Analysis
Acoustic Analysis
Electro-Magnetic Analysis
Manufacturing Processes
Fluid Dynamics
Financial Analysis

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Aerospace Engineering

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Civil Engineering

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Electrical Engineering

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Biomedical Engineering

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The Future – Virtual Engineering

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 Major FEM Analysis Steps
Discretization of the domain into a finite number of
subdomains (elements).
Selection of interpolation functions.
Development of the element matrix for the
subdomain (element).
Assembly of the element matrices for each
subdomain to obtain the global matrix for the entire
domain,
Imposition of the boundary conditions.
Solution of equations.
Additional computations (if desired).
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 Simple Example

Approximation the area of a circle

Observation:
Complicated objects can be represented by geometrically simple
pieces
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 Finite Element Method
Continued…
1. Assume a trial Solution that satisfies the boundary
condition
2. The domain residual or error is calculated while
satisfying the differential equation
3. The weighted sum of the domain residual
computed over the entire domain is rendered zero.
4. The accuracy of the assumed trial solution can be
improved by taking additional higher order terms
but computations becomes tedious.

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 Finite Element Method
Continued…
Therefore, it is not a trivial task to choose a single trial
function over the entire domain satisfying the
boundary condition.
It is preferred to discretize the domain into several
elements ( finite elements) and use several piece wise
continuous trial functions, each valid with in a segment
( finite element ).
The trial functions at element level are the element
shape function which interpolate the field variable with
in the element from its value at nodes.
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 Common Types of Elements
One-Dimensional Elements
Line
Rods, Beams, Trusses,
Frames
Two-Dimensional Elements
Triangular, Quadrilateral
Plates, Shells, 2-D Continua

Three-Dimensional Elements
Tetrahedral, Rectangular Prism
(Brick)
3-D Continua

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 Discretization
Any continuous solution field such as stress, displacement, temperature,
pressure, etc. can be approximated by a discrete model composed of a set of
piecewise continuous functions defined over a finite number of sub-domains.

Three-Dimensional
Two-Dimensional Brick Elements
One-Dimensional
FEM Triangular
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Frame Elements
 Two-Dimensional Discretization
Refinement
2

(Node
) 
-1

-2

-3
4
(Discretization with 228
3.5
3 
3
2.5
2
2.5
Elements)

1.5
2 1
0.5
(Triangular
1.5 0
-0.5
1 -1
y
Element)
x

Approximate
Piecewise Linear
Representation

(Discretization with 912

Elements)

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 FE Equation Derivation
The Finite element equation can be derived by either of
the following methods:
1. Direct equilibrium method
2. Minimum potential method
3. Weighted Residual method
The Galerkin Weighted Residual formulation is the
most popular from the finite element point of view.
Piece-wise trial function approximation of the weak
form of the GWR technique forms the basis of FEM.

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 Direct Equilibrium Method
u1 u2

F1 F2
1 2
k
Equilibriu m at Node 1  F1  ku1  ku2
Equilibriu m at Node 2  F2  ku1  ku2

or in M atrix Form

 k  k   u1   F1 
 k    
 k  u2   F2 
Stiffness Nodal Force
Matrix [ K ]{u}  {F } Vector
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 Weighted Residual Method
For structural problems, potential energy function can be
easily formed, Rayleigh-Ritz method is used.
For any problem where the differential equation of the
phenomenon can be easily formulated, Weighted
residual becomes very useful.
There are many types of weighted residual methods, of
them three are very popular.
1. Point collocation method
2. Least square method
3. Galerkin’ method
Among these three, the Galerkin approach has the widest
choice and is usedFEM
in Dr.
FEMsRiessom 31
Weighted Residual Continued…
Weighted residual method is a powerful way of finding
approximate solutions to a differential equations
L

O
 W ( x) R ( x)dx  0
i d

In point collocation, residuals are set to zero at n

different locations,
In least square, the integral of the weighted square of
the residual over the domain is required to be
minimum.
In Galerkin’s, the trial function itself is considered as
the weighting function.
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