COMPUTER AIDED

ENGINEERING
BAR ELEMENT

MOTIVATION
Ductile material
Behave like a spring in the elastic region.
Hooks Law, s=Ee

K U F

s Ee
F
L
E
A
L
EA
F
L
L

k k U1 F1
k k U F

2 2
1 1 U1 F1
k

1 1 U 2 F2
EA 1 1 U1 F1

L 1 1 U 2 F2

EA
Is the stiffness of the material
L

Revisit: Single element

Applying equilibrium at nodes 1e and 2e of the
spring element e (using f = k ) :
u1e
F1e 1e

k e ( u1e u e2 ) F1e

u2e

ke
2e

F2e

k e ( u1e u e2 ) F2e

Element e

expressed in matrix form

[ Ke ]
ke
e
k

{ue} {Fe}
k e u1e

e
k e u 2

Displacement
Matrix

F1e
e
F2
Force
Matrix

The stiffness Matrix

EXAMPLE 1:

A tapered square beam as shown in the figure

below is cantilevered at one end and is pulled
by a force of 100 N at the other end. Calculate
the total elongation of the beam.
0.2 m

0.05 m

Square cross
section

0.02 m

100 N

E = 200000 Pa

Nov-14

EX 1: SOLUTION
Use 2 uniform cross section elements.
Equation for side length,

y 0.025 0.075x
100 N
For average side lengths of
y 0.025 0.075 x
the elements,
hE1 = 0.0425m
at x 0.05 m, y 0.02125 m h 0.0425 m
& hE2 = 0.0275m

at x 0.15 m, y 0.01375 m h 0.0275 m

0.05 m

E1

E2

100 N

0.15 m
5

Nov-14

Two Elements Stiffness Matrix

0.2 m

0.05 m

0.02 m

100 N

E = 200000 Pa

E1

R1

E2

100 N

100 N
k1
Node 1

Node 2

k2

Node 3

The resulted stiffness Matrix for the system is:

K=

EX 1: SOLUTION
Since this is a uniaxial 1-D problem, the elements
can be simplified as 2 springs in series.

R1

100 N

k1
Node 1

k2
Node 2

Node 3

with element stiffness,

ki = E * Ai / L
k1 = [(200000*0.04252)/0.1] = 3612.5 N/m
k2 = [(200000*0.02752)/0.1] = 1512.5 N/m
8

Nov-14

EX 1: SOLUTION
Global Stiffness Matrix**:

K=

**next lecture
Nov-14

Ex 1: Solution

Arranging the problem in matrix form (K*x = F) yield;

A known solution, u1 = 0. Thus the problem can be

reduced to (by eliminating first column & first row):

10

Nov-14

Ex 1: Solution
-1
Using the inverse matrix method, x = K * F ;
-1

0.027681661

0.093797363

11

Nov-14

Three springs system:

A=Crosssectional Area

Force

ele. 1
R1 unknown
reaction force

3 element

u1 1

ele. 3

ele. 2

u2

k2

F applied load
u3

k3

u4

Use stiffness equations for each element,

F = k (u i- ui-1)
to express the forces in terms of nodal
displacements and substitute into the
previous four equations
node 1: (->)

R1 k1(u2 u1 ) 0

node 2: (->)

k1(u2 u1 ) k 2(u3 u2 ) 0

node 3: (->)

k 2(u3 u2 ) k 3(u4 u3 ) 0

node 4: (->)

k 3(u4 u3 ) F 0

1- D Three Elements
Write these equations in matrix form
to obtain the global stiffness equations

Ku F
k1
k1
k 1 k 1 k 2

0
k2

0
0

0
k2
k2 k3
k3

0 u1 R1
0
u
0
2

k 3 u3 0

k 3 u4 F

Systematic Assembly of the Global

Stiffness Matrix
Assembly of the stiffness matrix, [K] follows a
pattern based on element-node number
connectivity shown in the table.
Nodes 1e, 2e

Element (e)
1

P
1

k1

k2 3

k3

k1

-k1

-k1

k1+ k2
-k2

1, 2

2, 3

3, 4

4
1
2

-k2
k2+ k3

-k3

-k3

k3

Systematic Assembly of the

Global Stiffness Matrix
Try a different element system
configuration and solve for the System
Stiffness Matrix
1

k1

3
2

k2

k3

Systematic Assembly of the Global

Stiffness Matrix
Solution to different configuration and
solve for the Stiffness Matrix
1

1
k1

1, 3

2, 3

3, 4

3
4

3
2

Nodes 1e, 2e

Element(e)

k3

k2

2
k1

4
1

-k1
k2

-k1

-k2

-k2
k1+k2+ k3
-k3

-k3

k3

H AVE A GR EAT D AY!!