320659019.

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SADRAJ

Integration point............................................................................................................................... 2
What is an integration point for a finite element ?...........................................................................2
What are integration points?............................................................................................................. 2
Why are displacements calculated on integration points but not directly over the nodes?..............3
Stress at integration points or at nodes?.......................................................................................... 3
Interpreting FEA Results: Integration Point Data...........................................................................4
Shape function (interpolation function)......................................................................................6

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Integrationpoint
Whatisanintegrationpointforafiniteelement?
http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=291279

An integration point is the point within an element at which integrals are evaluated numerically. These points are
chosen in such a way that the results for a particular numerical integration scheme are the most accurate.
Depending on the integration scheme used the location of these points will vary. Check any numerical methods
text for numerical integration methods and they will give you more information*.
Since you asked for a detailed description consider that the stiffness of an element is:
K = integral ([b]trans . [c] . [b] dv) (over the volume of the element dv)
The question then becomes "How do I evaluate this volume integration in the most accurate manner". Selection
of points to achieve this defines the "integration points".
To add to what others have said, it's important to note that finite element displacements are most accurate at the
nodes. However, derived values (i.e. stresses and strains) tend to be most accurate at the integration points (and
sometimes least accurate at the nodes). Of course, the accuracy of nodal strains is dependent on your mesh size,
so with an adequate mesh it shouldn't matter.
On a (somewhat) related note, folks often compare elemental strains with averaged nodal strains to determine
whether their mesh is adequate. If there is a significant difference, mesh refinement is required.
* Numerical integration methods can generally be described as combining evaluations of the integrand f(x) to get an approximation to the
integral. The integrand is evaluated at a finite set of points called integration points and a weighted sum of these values is used to
approximate the integral. The integration points and weights depend on the specific method used and the accuracy required from the
approximation.
An important part of the analysis of any numerical integration method is to study the behavior of the approximation error as a function of
the number of integrand evaluations. A method that yields a small error for a small number of evaluations is usually considered superior.
Reducing the number of evaluations of the integrand reduces the number of arithmetic operations involved, and therefore reduces the total
round-off error.

Whatareintegrationpoints?
http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK/VTK_integration_point_support

In Finite Element Analysis (FEA) the simulation results are managed in so called integration points. Integration
points are used to control and monitor values inside of a finite element.
Integration points are located within a finite element and therefore strongly connected to them. The position of
an integration point inside a finite element is based on the quadrature and the integration method (gauss, newtoncotes).
Important for the understanding of integration points and there implementation is, that the values which are
defined in the integration points (stress and strain tensors, hardening, thickness and others) are representative for
the element at this discrete point. Usually the distribution function of these values are unknown within the
element. They are not related to the shape functions of the element (the position of the integration point is, but
not the values). Therefore discrete points inside the element are used to compute, mostly based on the
displacement vectors which are defined in the mesh nodes, stress and strain inside the finite element.
Stress and Strain as well as other values defined in the integration points are very important to analyse and
evaluate the result of a FEM simulation (forming, welding, crash, structural analyses ...). Because of that, there is
a strong need to handle integration points correctly to process, analyse and visualize them.

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Whyaredisplacementscalculatedonintegrationpointsbutnotdirectlyoverthenodes? The whole purpose of

discretizing a structure in FEA is to have fewer degrees of freedom, then why add integration points when there
are well defined nodes. Also, can somebody please explain having integration points over thickness and how it is
taken care while solving a problem in FEA.
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/integration-points-in-fea.721549/

Toformtheelementstiffnessmatrix,youneedtointegratesomefunction(relatedtotheinternalstrainenergyof
theelement)overtheelementvolume.Exceptforsimpleelementswithsimplegeometry,thisisdone
numerically.InprincipleyoucoulddothisusingsomethinglikethetrapeziumruleorSimpson'sruletodothe
integralusingonlynodalvalues,butotherintegrationruleslikeGaussianquadrature() are more efficient and/or
more accurate. For example, Gauss-Legendre integration with n points give the correct results for polynomials
up to order (2n-1), and good approximate results (which can be interpreted in terms of least-squares fitting a
lower order function and integrating it) for higher order polynomials.
The integration is always over the volume of the element. For
shell or beam elements, if the material properties vary through
the thickness of the element (e.g. layered composite materials)
you may need to integrate for each layer separately. For
isotropic materials and linear problems, you can usually do the
integration through the thickness of a shell or over the area of
the beam analytically, and then integrate over the area of the
shell or the length of the beam numerically.

Figure 1: Gaussian quadrature

Stressatintegrationpointsoratnodes?
Think of that you have a 3-D model and you simulated some forces acting on it. And get a Stress contour ? It
should have normally the most accurate results at integration points (or not)? but then you have 4 integration
points so should we extrapolate the results to the nodes? Or for this element which value should we take ? How
about the stress results at nodes arent they realistic ?
http://www.engtips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=232206

The stresses at the integration points are the most accurate. They occur inside the element and may not be the
highest stress in the area; for example around a fillet radius the free surface stress will be higher than the
integration point stress.
The element shape function is used to extrapolate the integration point stresses out to the element nodes - these
are in a useful location like a fillet radius free surface or a hole edge.
Adjacent elements combined with their shape functions will predict different stress values at their common
nodes. The question then arises which stress do you believe? Most FE packages average the stresses for each
element at the node. If the unaveraged stresses are within a few percent of each other I go ahead and use
averaged nodal stresses. If the unaveraged stresses are significantly different, I use peak unaveraged stresses, or
refine the mesh to get a better result.
In all cases, unaveraged nodal stresses must be checked before using averaged nodal stresses.
When using shell, beam, or any other element for which results are presented in some form of local system,
averaged nodal stresses should not be used unless you really know what you are doing.
I can't count the number of expensive fatigue errors which I have seen as a consequence of averaged nodal
stresses.
Amen
3

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WhatismeantbyintegrationpointsinFEA?Howaredisplacements,strainsandstressescalculated?
https://www.quora.com/WhatismeantbyintegrationpointsinFeaHowaredisplacementsstrainsandstressescalculated

An integration point is the point within an element at which integrals are evaluated numerically. These points are
chosen in such a way that the results for a particular numerical integration scheme are the most accurate.
Depending on the integration scheme used the location of these points will vary.
Each degree of freedom of a node in a finite element mesh constitutes an unknown. In structural analysis, nodal
degrees of freedom represent displacement components, while in thermal analysis they represent temperatures.
Nodal displacements and nodal temperatures are the primary unknowns for structural analysis and thermal
analysis, respectively. Structural analysis finds displacement, strains and stresses. If solid elements are used, then
three displacement components (three translations) per node must be calculated. With shell and beam elements,
six displacements components (three translations and three rotations) must be calculated. Strains and stresses are
calculated based on the nodal displacement results.
The steps involved in FEM are:
- Create and discretize the solution domain into finite elements. This involves dividing up the domain
into sub-domains, called 'elements', and selecting points, called nodes, on the inter-element boundaries
or in the interior of the elements. Assume a function to represent the behavior of the element. This
function is approximate and continuous and is called the "shape function". Develop equations for an
element. Assemble the elements to represent the complete problem. Apply boundary conditions, initial
conditions, and the loading.
- Solve a set of linear or nonlinear algebraic equations simultaneously to obtain nodal results, such as
displacement values, or temperature values, depending on the type of problem.

InterpretingFEAResults:IntegrationPointData
http://echobio.com/2009/interpretingfearesultsintegrationpointdata/

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) can produce an enormous amount of data as output. Solution variables such as
stress and strain are computed throughout an analysis for each increment and at each location within the model.
These solution variables are computed at what are called integration points. These locations are not the same
as the nodes of an element and it is important when post-processing FEA results to understand how the actual
solution data is used to create contour plots, and how to extract accurate data representing the solution of the
problem you are modeling. As is generally the case, it is the responsibility of the analyst to make sure the
engineering is consistent with the problem at hand.
During a typical non-linear FEA solution process, numerous increments are taken to establish an equilibrated
solution for the given applied loading. Stress equilibrium, strain compatibility and other mechanics equations are
simultaneously solved by adjusting local solution variables such as stress and strain throughout the entire
model being analyzed. These equations are written in such a way as to ultimately satisfy equilibrium conditions
at an elemental levelthe details of which depend on the shape function of the element being used. Regardless
of element type and formulation, the shape functions determine how the discrete solutions for field variables like
stress and strain are represented throughout an element, and compared with forces and displacements to evaluate
the various equations governing the solution of the problem.

Figure 2: Nodes and integration points

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What is important to understand is that while forces and displacements are computed at nodal locations, stresses
and strains are computed at integration points. The Figure 2 for a typical 8-noded, linear, three-dimensional
element illustrates the difference between nodal locations and integration points. The nodal locations are at the
corners of the cube while the integration points are located within the element.
In order to generate contour plots from FEA results, it is necessary to extrapolate the stress or strain values from
the integration points to the nodal locations. Since each node in a model will generally be shared by more than
one element these extrapolated values will also have to be averaged in order to produce a smooth contour plot.
While there are parameters that can be set to control how this process is handled by your post-processing
software, there are many factors which can affect the accuracy of the extrapolated values.
The degree to which the contour plot data differs from the actual data depends on the element type/formulation
and particularly on the steepness of the underlying field variable gradient and to a large extent the quality of the
underlying finite element mesh. Large gradients and a coarse mesh will obviously produce a greater degree of
difference between the integration point data and extrapolated nodal averages.
Relying upon discrete data taken from contour plots for stress or strain can be misleading and inconsistent
between various analysis runs. One reliable method for extracting specific stress and strain values is to use
integration point data. In this way, you are assured of getting an accurate stress or strain value that relates
directly to the solution of the underlying mechanics equations. However, in the case of performing a fatigue
analysis, for example, stresses and strains at the surface of a component may be more relevant, as it is well
known that cracks and defects generally initiate on the surface a part. In such a case, it is the analysts
responsibility to understand the impact of using either integration point data or averaged nodal data.
The contour plot in the Figure 3 left was produced with the nodal averaging turned off. You can see that when
the nodal data is extrapolated for each element that the result produces discontinuities between adjacent
elements. This is inevitable because the variation of stress and strain over an element is much more complicated
than a simple linear relationship. The contour plot in the Figure 3 right was produced by turning nodal averaging
back on. It is much smoother, but that smoothness comes with a loss of information.

Figure 3: Influence of nodal averaging

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Shapefunction(interpolationfunction)
http://www.iue.tuwien.ac.at/phd/orio/node48.html

The shape function is the function which interpolates the solution between the discrete values obtained at the
mesh nodes. Therefore, appropriate functions have to be used and, low order polynomials are typically chosen as
shape functions.
http://www.mecheng.iisc.ernet.in/~suresh/me237/feaNotes/Chapter4.pdf

In the finite element method, continuous models are approximated using information at a finite number of
discrete locations. Dividing the structure into discrete elements is called discretization. Interpolation within the
elements is achieved through shape functions.
https://fea4noobs.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/the-shape-functions-an-introduction/

One of the fundamental steps in a finite element analysis is the discretization of a continuous body containing
infinite number of points in the surface into a discrete model with a limited number of points (or nodes) in the
surface. The shape of the body between these nodes its approximated by functions. These functions are known as
shape functions, and allow us to relate the coordinates of every point of a finite element with the positions of its
nodes.
Another important step in finite element analysis is the integration over the elements. The functions to be
integrated over elements can be quite complex, and therefore require numerical treatment. One prerequisite for
numerical integraton is an expression for rate of change of length, area or volume with respect to intrinsic
coordintes, because the limits of integration are then simple. Because of this, we will have to write the shape
functions respect to the intrinsic coordinates of the elements. Furthermore, these intrinsic coordinates will have
to be in a range of +1 to -1, to enable the Gauss quadrature, a numerical integration method over the elements in
which the shape function is approximated by a polynominal expression wich is exactly integrated.
When these shape functions are used to interpolate the unknow for each point of a finite element from its nodes,
we will say that the element is isoparametric. There are several types of isoparametric elements depending on the
number of nodes used to define him:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-Shape-Function-in-FEM

Shape function is something which is used to give the relation between the nodal displacement and the
displacement at a given point.
Shape functions are basically interpolation models. Suppose you want to want to find the displacement of a point
inside a triangle, but are given the displacement only at the nodes. Here, shape functions prove to be very useful.
You can interpolate the displacement at the three nodes of the triangle to get the displacement at the required
point inside the triangle
http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~suresh/ME964Website/M964Notes/Notes/introfem.pdf

Shape functions are used for interpolation of u(x) using its nodal values. Nodal values u1 and u2 are unknowns
which should be determined from the discrete global equation system.
http://www.ccg.msm.cam.ac.uk/images/FEMOR_Lecture_2.pdf

To calculate values at positions other than the nodes we interpolate between the nodes using shape functions