SingularitiesinFiniteElementModels:Dealing

withRedSpots
Yourfiniteelementmodelwillsometimescontainsingularitiesthatis,pointswheresome
aspectofthesolutiontendstowardaninfinitevalue.Inthisblogpost,wewillexplorethe
commoncausesofsingularities,whenandhowtoremovethem,andhowtointerpretresultswhen
singularitiesarepresentinyourmodel.Whilemostofthisdiscussionisintermsofstructural
mechanics,similarphenomenacanalsobefoundinmanyotherphysicsfields.

TheProblem
Inmypreviousroleasastructuralanalysisconsultant,Isometimescameacrosstheproblemof
howtoreportridiculouslyhighstresspeaksinafiniteelementmodeltoacustomer.Experienced
analystsknowwhenstresspeaksareanexpectedeffectofmodelingandcanbesafelyignored.
Though,whenarequirementthatthestressmustnowhereexceed70%oftheyieldstresshas
beenstated,thismaystillturnouttobeanissue.Equallyimportantisthefactthatthesmallred
spotsinthecolorplotscannotalwaysbeignored.Thus,wemusthaveappropriatetechniquesfor
interpretingthemodelresults.

TheSharpCorner:APrototypeofaSingularity
Sharpreentrantcornerswillcauseasingularityinthederivativesofthedependentvariablesforall
ellipticpartialdifferentialequations.Instructuralmechanics,thismeansthatthestrainscan
becomeunboundedsincethedegreesoffreedomarethedisplacements.Unlesslimitedbythe
materialmodel,thestresseswillalsobeinfiniteinsuchacase.
Stressesareinvestigatedinthemajorityofstructuralmechanicsanalyses.Thisiswhysingularities
presentmoreofanissueinstructuralmechanicsthaninmostotherphysicsfields.Inheattransfer
analyses,forinstance,youaremuchmorelikelytobeinterestedinthetemperaturethaninthe
localvaluesoftheheatflux,theareainwhichasingularitywouldbecomeevident.
Letshavealookataprototypeproblem.Thisprobleminvolvesa2metersby1meterrectangular
plate,featuringasquarecutoutwithasideof0.2meters,thatissubjectedtopuretension:

Theplateisconstrainedalongtheleftedgeandhasauniformloadalongtherightedge.
Withtwodifferentmeshesaroundthehole,thedefaultplotsoftheeffectivestresslookcompletely
different.Sincethepeakstressistwiceashighinthemodelwiththefinermesh,mostdetailsin
thestressfieldarelost.Thiscanofcourseberemediedbymanuallyadjustingtherangeofthe
plots,butitmayhideimportantdetailsatfirstglance.

Thesameeffectivestressfieldintwoplots.Bothplotsareautomaticallyscaledbythemesh
dependentpeakstress.
Infact,thesmallertheelementsthatareusedinthecorner,thehigherthevaluesofstressthatwill
befound.Theresultswillnotconvergesincethetruesolutiontendstowardaninfinitevalue.

Stressatthecornerasafunctionofelementsize(logarithmichorizontalaxis).
Ifweinvestigatethestressfieldclosetothehole,wewillfindthatthestresspeakisvery
localized.Inthefigurebelow,thestressisplottedalongaverticalcutlinedrawnatadistanceof
0.05metersfromthehole.Atthisdistance,thestressisvirtuallyunchanged,eventhoughthepeak
stressatthecornervariesbyafactoroftwo.

Stressvariationalongacutline(representedinred).Fivedifferentmeshsizesareused.
Intherealworld,thereareseldomperfectlysharpcorners.Thus,youcouldarguethatbyusingan
accurategeometryrepresentationcontainingallfillets,itispossibletoavoidsingularities.While
true,thiscomeswithapricetag.Ifverysmallgeometricaldetailsmustberesolvedbythemesh,
themodelgrowsenormouslyinsize(especiallythecasein3D).EvenwhenaperfectCAD
geometryisavailable,itiscommonpracticetodefeaturethegeometrytoremovesmalldetails
thatarenotimportantwithinthescopeoftheanalysis.Therefore,inmanycases,weactually
deliberatelyintroducesharpcornersatthepreprocessingstage.
Thereare,however,somedrawbackstokeepingthesharpcorner:
Ifthematerialmodelisnonlinear,theremaybenumericalproblemsatthesingularity.For
example,thestrainratepredictedbyacreepmodelisoftenproportionaltoahighpowerof
stress.Thehighstressatthesingularity(avaluedeterminedonlybythemesh)raisedtoa
poweroffivemayresultinstrainratessohighthatthetimesteppingisforcedtobeinthe
orderofmilliseconds,whenyouactuallywanttostudyaneventtakingplaceovermonths.If
youstillwanttokeepthesharpcorner,theremedyhereistoenclosethesingularityinasmall
elasticdomain.
Adaptivemeshing,errorestimates,andthelikecanfailsincethesingularitywilldominate
overtherestofthesolution.Excludethecornerfromanysuchprocedures.

Whenrunninganoptimizationwherestressesarepartoftheproblemformulation,the
singularitywillleadtosolutionsthatareoptimalonlyintermsofreducingtheamplitudeof
theunphysicalpeakstress.IntheMultistudyOptimizationofaBrackettutorial,theregion
wherethebracketisboltedisexcludedfromthesearchforamaximumstress.
Aspreviouslynoted,thehighstresspeakstendtoobscuremoreinterestingfeaturesinthe
solution,bothvisuallyandpsychologically.
Physically,ifthecornerisverysharp,thematerialwillbedamagedbythehighstrains.Abrittle
materialmaycrackaductilematerialmayyield.Whileitmaysoundalarming,suchdamagewill
onlycausealocalredistributionofthestressesinmostcases.Asseenfromtheperspectiveofthe
surroundingstructure,theeffectisnomoredramaticthanthatofsomewhatchangingthefillet
radius.High,verylocalizedstresseswillonlybeatrueproblemiftheloadingiscyclic,which
createsariskforfatigue.
Inabuilding,nobodyisconcernedthattheholesforwindowsanddoorsarerectangularwith
sharpcorners.But,inanairliner,youwillfindthatthewindowsaresmoothlyroundedsincethe
variationbetweenthepressureinthecabinandthepressureoutsidewillprovideacyclicstress
history.

Left:Arectangularwindowfeaturingsharpcorners.ImagebyJoseMarioPires.Licensedunder
CCBYSA4.0viaWikimediaCommons.Right:Awindowwithsmoothlyroundedcorners.Image
byOrinZebest.LicensedunderCCBYSA2.0viaWikimediaCommons.
Thisisinfactrecognizedbymanydesignstandards,wherehighlocalstressesareallowedaslong
astheloadsarestatic.Thelocalcornerstresseswillnotinanywayaffecttheloadbearing
capacityofthestructure.Usingthistypeofapproachdoesrelyonasystematicwayofclassifying
thestressfields.Suchmethodsare,forexample,describedintheASMEBoiler&PressureVessel
Code.
Forcyclicloads,ontheotherhand,itisimportanttoobtainveryaccuratestressvalues.The
fatiguelifedependsstronglyonthestressamplitude.Inthiscase,anaccuraterepresentationofthe
filletisnecessary,notonlygeometricallybutalsointermsofmeshresolution.Ifthemodel
becomestoolargetohandle,youcanusesubmodeling,anapproachthatisdescribedindetail
inthisblogpost.

Thedetailedsubmodelontherightisdrivenbytheresultsfromtheglobalanalysis.
Tip:Tofurtherexplorethesubmodelingtechnique,downloadtheSubmodelingAnalysisof
aShafttutorialfromourApplicationGallery.

PointLoads
Aforceappliedtoasinglepointonasolidwilllocallygiveinfinitestresses.Thisisthe
classicalBoussinesqCerrutiprobleminthetheoryofelasticity,wherethestressesvaryasthe
inverseofthedistancefromtheloadedpoint.
Intherealworld,pointloadsdonotexist.Theforceisalwaysdistributedoveracertainarea.
Fromthefiniteelementanalysisperspective,thequestioniswhetherornotitisworththeeffortto
resolvethissmallregion.TheanswertothatquestionliesintheSaintVenantsprinciple,which
statesthatallstaticallyequivalentloaddistributionsgivethesameresultatadistancethatislarge
enoughwhencomparedtothesizeoftheloadedarea.
Thus,whendetailedresultsarenotimportantwithinadistanceof,say,threetimesthesizeofthe
loadedarea,itactuallydoesnotmatterhowyouapplytheloads,solongastheresultingforceand
momentarecorrect.Justasinthecasewiththecornersingularity,youmaystillneedtoavoidthe
effectsofsingularstresses.Notethatlineloadswillhavethesameeffectasapointloadincausing
localinfinitestresses.
Itisinterestingtomakementionofthefactthatapointloadappliedonabeamelementor
perpendiculartoashellwillnotinduceasingularity.Thebendingofthestructuralelementsis
governedbyequationsotherthansolidmechanics.However,apointloadappliedintheplaneofa

shellwillcauseasingularity.

Constraints
Ifwethinkofaconstraintintermsofitscapabilitytoapplyareactionforce,itisevidentthatthe
sameconclusionscanbedrawnasthoseforloadswithrespectto,forexample,constraintsapplied
toapoint.But,thatisnotall.Considertheseeminglysymmetricproblembelow.Here,wehavea
platewithaconstanttensileloadononesideandcorrespondingrollerconditionsontheother
side.

Asquareplatewithonehalfoftheverticalboundariesconstrainedandloaded.
Whenlookingatthestressdistribution,itisapparentthattheendoftherollerconditionintroduces
asingularitythatthesuddenchangeintheloaddoesnot.Ageneralobservationisthattheendofa
constrainthasaneffectthatissimilartothatofasharpcorner.

Horizontalstressdistribution.
Aninfinitelystiffenvironmentsupportingthestructuredoesnotexistinreality.Theanalystis
againleftwithachoice:CanIlivewiththelittleredspot,ordoIneedtopaymoreattentionto
whatisoutsideofmystructure?
Ifthesingularitycausedbytheboundaryconditionisnotacceptable,youcouldconsiderthe
followingapproaches:
Extendthemodelsothatanysingularitycausedbytheboundaryconditionismovedoutside
oftheareaofinterest.
UseasofterboundaryconditionbyapplyingaSpringFoundationcondition,forinstance.
Useinfiniteelements,whichofferacheapmethodforextendingthecomputationaldomain.
Learnmorewiththistutorial.
Situationssimilartotheonementionedaboveareinevitableinmanykindsoftransitions.An
exampleofsuchatransitionisconnectingarigiddomaintoaflexibledomain.

Welds
Theartofanalyzingweldsissoimportantandcomplexthatitwarrantsitsownblogpost.Here,
wewillonlybrieflytouchonthissubject.

Weldedstructuresoftenconsistofthinplates,soitisnaturaltouseshellmodelsinthiscontext.
Letshavealookatthemodelbelow.Inthisexample,astressconcentrationisevidentinthearea
wherethesmallerplateisweldedtothewideplate.

Stressesinasimpleshellmodeloftwoplatesweldedtogether.
Thegeometryandloadsaresymmetricwithrespecttothecenterofthegeometry.Themeshin
thismodel,however,isdesignedsothatitismuchfineratoneendoftheweld.Agraphofthe
stressalongtheweldlinerevealsasingularityinthestressfieldinbothplates.

Astressplotidentifyingasingularity.
Formanyweldedstructuresshiphulls,cargocranes,andtruckframesdimensioningagainst
fatigueisimportant.Refiningthemodelingprocessbyusingasolidmodelisseldomtheanswer
here.Thelocalgeometryandqualityofaweldisrarelywelldefined,unlessithasbeenground
andXrayed.Thelocalgeometrywilldifferalongtheweldandbetweenthecorrespondingwelds
ontwoitemsthatnominallyshouldbeidentical.
Whenanalyzingwelds,themostcommonapproachistoaveragethestressalongtheweldlineor
alongaparallellineacertaindistanceaway.ThecutlinesinCOMSOLMultiphysicsare
particularlyhelpfulhere.Thelocalcoordinatesystemsalsocomeinhandysincestress
componentsparallelandnormaltotheweldneedtobetreateddifferently.Theseaveragedstresses
arethencomparedwithhandbookvalues,whichareavailableforanumberofweldconfigurations
andweldqualities.Tolearnmore,seeEurocode3:DesignofsteelstructuresPart19:Fatigue.

Cracks
Theworstconceivablegeometricalsingularityistheonecausedbyacrack.Acrackcanbeseen
asa180reentrantcorner,somanyaspectsofthecornersingularityarealsoapplicablehere.
Whenacrackispresentinafiniteelementmodel,itistypicallyanareaoffocuswithinthestudy.

Thestressfieldaroundacracktip,withthedeformationscaled.
Thestressfieldaroundthecracktipisknownfromanalyticalsolutions,atleastforlinear
elasticityandplasticityundersomeassumptions.Computingthestressfieldthroughfiniteelement
analysis,however,canbedifficultduetothesingularity.Fortunately,itisusuallynotnecessaryto
studythedetailsatthecracktip.Whendeterminingthestressintensityfactor,forexample,you
canuseeithertheJintegralorenergyreleaserateapproach.Thesemethodsmakeuseofglobal
quantitiesfarfromthecracktip,sothatthedetailsatthesingularitybecomelessimportant.
Tip:LookingtoexploretheuseoftheJintegralapproachinfurtherdetail?Consult
theSingleEdgeCracktutorialinourApplicationGallery.

Conclusion
Singularitiesappearinmanyfiniteelementmodelsforanumberofdifferentreasons.Aslongas
youunderstandhowtointerprettheresultsandhowtocircumventsomeoftheconsequences,the
presenceofsingularitiesshouldnotbeanissueinyourmodeling.Infact,manyindustrialsize
modelsrequiretheintentionaluseofsingularities.Keepingdownmodelsizeandanalysistime
oftennecessitatessimplificationofgeometricaldetails,loadings,andboundaryconditionsina
waythatintroducessingularities.