A.4 Finite element solutions for the bending of beams 579 Equations (A.54, A.55) define the continuum formulation of the problem, A piecewise linear approximation satisfying the first of (A.55) in a collocation sense is ui) = Funite) , (A.56) a where the shape functions v;(1x) are given by (A.16). ‘A set of conditions for the unknowns u is then obtained by enforcing (Ny) (a5?) 1 [{d.teeoac(] +09} (oa where as in §A.1 we use the vj(x) for both shape and weight functions. The obvious next step is to substitute (A.56) into (A.57) to obtain NV simultaneous equations for the uj, but a difficulty is encountered in that u*"(x) is ill-defined for the piecewise linear function (A.16). To ovetcome this difficulty, we apply partial integration to the first term in (A.57) obtaining E(X)AC ( o— f eeracuztonjona L +f pix)vj(xjdx=0 > f= (1,N) Substituting for u*(x) from (A.56) and for u*'(L) from the second of the boundary conditions (A.55), we then have Ku=F, (A58) where L Kj E(x)A(x)vi(x)vj(x)dx (A.59) lo L Fj P(xvj(x)dx-+ FoBiN , (A.60) agreeing with the results (A.47, A.48) obtained using the Rayleigh-Ritz method in §A25, A.4 Finite element solutions for the bending of beams Piecewise linear approximations cannot be used for the displacement of beams in bending, since they involve discontinuities in slope at the nodes. To avoid this dif- ficulty, we use a discretization in which the nodal displacements ui and slopes 6; are treated as independent variables with separate shape functions of higher order polynomial form. For the nodal displacements u;, we require shape functions v!(z) satisfying the conditions580 A The Finite Element Method vi(zj)=1 3 fst O03 ffi (A61) 8¥(zj) = (4) (Zs) =0 5 all j This corresponds to the situation where all the nodes except j =i are restrained against displacement and rotation, whilst node j=/ is subjected to unit displacement without rotation, as shown in Figure A.9(a). (a) i Su (b) Figure A.9: Shape fuanctions for (a) nodal displacements u; and (b) nodal rotations 6 For the nodal slopes 6;, we require shape functions v? (2) satisfying P(e) = (PY) = 1s T= 0; j4i (A.62) vile) =0 5 all j which correspond to the deformation of Figure A.9 (b), where node / is rotated with- out displacement and all other nodes are restrained against both displacement and rotation, The lowest order piecewise polynomial functions satisfying these conditions are Bz-aaP _2@-aay , Wile) = Niaggt AAW. ; aces : Br-2?_ Awa-gzP =a Met ziy1‘AG Finite element solutions for the bending of beams 581 Goa Y (aap Bis I< (ini -2)? _ Gin -2)3 =e y fa YS aczcm (A64) =0 3 2 zis) ‘The reader can easily verify by substitution that these expressions? satisfy the condi- tions (A.61, A.62). If there are N elements and N+1 nodes, the discrete approximation to the beam displacement can then be written +f av? (2) (A65) Consider the i-th element of length A between nodes i and i+1, in which the displacement is approximated as U3 (2) = wivi (2) + Ov? (2) + wevavia (2) + Baha) - (A.66) ‘The element strain energy is (A.67) in [rae A =, ["" and if the flexural rigidity a is independent of z, we can substitute for the shape functions v¥(2),¥? (2),v4,(2),»8,,(@) from (A.63, A.64) and perform the integra- tions, obtaining Ue = 7 (au? + 4a. 76? + 12u7.4 +4767, + 12A WG, — 2400) 41 a + 12A wii. — 12A Oj:41 +447O,0..1 — 12AUi+1 8:1) (A68) ‘The four columns of the 4%4 element stiffness matrix are now obtained by differen- tiating U. with respect to the four nodal variables uj, 6;,1;;1, 8:1. We obtain cH Ay (12 +646; ~ 12uj;1 +6A6,,1) (A.69) a = a (6Au; + 4476; — 6Au;,; +2476,,1) (A.70) a = ae 12u;— 6A8;-+ 12ui.1 ~ 64841) (AT) aa = i (6Au; +2476; — 6Aui41 +4476:41) (A.72) More generally, the shape functions of equations (A.63, A.64) define a set of cubic inter polation functions that can be used in the sense of §A.1 to define a discrete approximation to any function that preserves continuity in both value and derivative at the nodes. This is known as a cubic spline approximation,582 A The Finite Element Method and hence the element stiffness matrix is 12 6A -12 6A EI | 64 4A? —6A 2A? 4°) 12-64 12 -64 6A 2A? -6A 4A? Ke (A73) The global stiffness matrix can be assembled by superposition, as in §A.2.2. For example, for a beam with 4 elements and 5 nodes, i= (1,5), we obtain 12 64-1264 0 0 0 0 0 0 64 44? -64 247 0 0 0 0 0 0 -12-64 24 0 -1264 0 0 0 0 64 247 0 84? -64 247 0 0 0 0 EL 0 -12-64 24 0 -12 64 0 0 Ka 43 (A74) A 6A 2A? 0 8A? -64 247 0 0 0 0 -12-6A 24 0 ~12 64 0 6A 2A? 0 8A? —6A 247 0 0 0 ~12-64 12 ~6A 0 0 0 64 2A? -64 4A? ecco o 0 0 o 0 o 0 o 0 In this matrix, the internal rectangles indicate the way in which the 4x4 element matrices are overlaid along the diagonal to construct the global stiffness matrix. ‘The stiffness matrix of equation (A.74) contains (erms for all the nodal displace ments that are possible with the given number of nodes, but in practice some of these degrees of freedom must be constrained if the beam is to be kinematically supported. If the beam is simply supported at node i, the corresponding nodal displacement u;=0 and ceases to be an unknown, whilst the corresponding nodal force F; becomes an unknown reaction, We therefore remove 1, from the equation system by delet- ing the row and column corresponding to 1; from the stiffness matrix. In the same way, the row and column corresponding to 6; will be deleted if node # is prevented from rotating, as at a built in support Example A4 A beam of length 2L is built in at z=0, simply supported at z=L and loaded by a force F at the end 2=2L, as shown in Figure A.10. Using a discretization with two equal elements each of length L, estimate the deflection under the force.AG Finite element solutions for the bending of beams 583 a fp, og yp Figure A.10 Figure A.11 shows the discretization, with 2 elements of length L and three nodes, for which the full stiffness matrix is 12 6L -12 6b 6L 4 —6L 2? 0 0 Er | -12-6L 24 0 ~12 6L K= + (A75) BY 6, 22 0 81? -6L 21? 0 0 -12-6L 12 ~6L 0 0 6L 2? -6L 41? by analogy with (A.74), Fim My, % <__, —__ = __,_7 Figure A.11 However, the boundary conditions at the supports require that uj =u = 0; = and we therefore delete the first three rows and columns from K, leaving 8? —6L 21? -6L 12 6. (A.76) 2 —6L aL? ‘The remaining nodal forces and moments (i.e. the external forces on the beam) are M2 =0,F=—F,M3=0 and hence 2 2 fr 81? -6L 21 a 0 p | 78 12 -6L] 4 us p=) FP. (A771) - % 0 2 -6L 41?584A The Finite Element Method. with solution Fv TFS 3FL? Ss += : (A.78 Oger 8 oer) =~ ger ams) Thus, the end deflection is 7FL*/12E downwards. The deleted columns of the stiffness matrix could be reinstated to determine the unknown reactions, For example, the reaction at the simple suppor is EI SF Fy = 73 (0) ~ 12us +6105) ="), after substituting for 0,13, 05 A.4.1 Nodal forces and moments In Example A.4, the only loads were applied at the nodes, so the load vector was immediately known. If there is a distributed load, w(z) per unit length acting on the beam, it must be shared out between adjacent nodes and this can be done using the principle of stationary potential energy, as in §A.2.4. The potential energy of the distributed load is 1 a= [wtaw(adz, (A.79) A where L is the length of the beam, u°(z) is the discrete approximation to the dis- placement in the entire beam defined by equation (A.65) and the distributed load is assumed (o act downwards. Differentiating with respect to the nodal displacements, we have 32 = [teamed (A80) 6 f v9 (ew(2)de (Ast) and we conclude that the distributed load contributes =- f * a (a)w(2)de (A.82) M=- [teonea: (A83) to the nodal forces and moments at node i If there is a uniformly distributed load wo per unit length in the element zi <2< ziy1 and no load elsewhere, substitution into equations (A.82, A.83) shows that the only non-zero nodal forces and moments occur at the ends of the loaded element and are wy A? 12 Fis R= "08 MiMi (ass)AG Finite element solutions for the bending of beams 585 As we might expect, the total load wo is shared equally between the adjacent nodes, but less obviously, equal and opposite nodal moments are generated as well. The distributed loading and the equivalent nodal loading for this case are illustrated in Figure A.12,(a,b) respectively. (a) Wo per unit length Vividvidy % an (b) Wo (2 wd? “pS wo 12 12 Figure A.12: Uniform loading of a single element: (a) continuous loading; (b) equiv- alent nodal forces and moments If the whole beam is subjected to a uniformly distributed load, the equivalent nodal forces and moments of equations (A.84) will be superposed to yield the dis- crete loading of Figure A.13. Notice that each node receives half of the load on each of the adjacent elements, whereas the moments from adjacent elements are equal and opposite and hence cancel each other out except at the two terminal nodes. oA 4A wo wd Wo Wed Wo wd "oA | {| 2 | woe? <1. 1 Figure A.13: Nodal forces and moments equivalent to uniform loading of the whole beam ‘The existence of these terminal moments is perhaps best explained by reference to the case where the beam is modelled by a single element of length, L, with two terminal nodes, as in the following example,586 A The Finite Element Method Example A.5 A beam of length L is simply supported at its ends and subjected to a uniformly distributed load wy per unit length. Find an approximate solution for the deflection, representing the beam as a single element of length L. Since there is only one element, the stiffness matrix is the same as K‘e of equation (A.73). Furthermore, the beam is simply supported at both nodes, so ui =u =0, leaving the nodal rotations 6 , 82 as the only degrees of freedom. We therefore delete the first and third rows and columns in Ke, obtaining £1 {44 247] gr [4 2] ‘ . (Ass) A’ |2a2 ga2] Lb [2 4 since here the element length A =L wol woke Figure A.14: Nodal forces and moments for the uniformly loaded beam modelled by a single element of length L The nodal forces and moments corresponding to the distributed load are given by equation (A.84) and are illustrated in Figure A.14. The nodal forces act directly above the supports and hence produce no beam deflection, but the nodal moments wol? —M = My = "0, do produce deformation, which can be found from the equations EI{4 2] fa wol? { -1 L [: ‘| {8 mis? (86) _ 9 _ wol® OO sap ‘With only two rotational degrees of freedom, equation (A.65) reduces to _ wol? [- (L W(@) = vf) +69) = Je _wol?(L—2) ‘24ET (A87)AS ‘Two and three-dimensional problems 587 This is precisely the same result that would be obtained to this problem by applying the Rayleigh-Ritz method of §3.6, using a third degree polynomial approximation to the deformed shape (see Problem A.19). A.5 Two and three-dimensional problems ‘The scope of this book has been restricted to systems that can be analyzed using or dinary differential equations and hence it is inappropriate to give any extensive dis- cussion of the application of the finite element method in two and three dimensions, which in the continuum formulation leads to partial differential equations. However, the broad use of the method in engineering is largely due to the fact that it can be extended to such problems with scarcely any modification or added complexity. Figure A.15: Discretization of a two-dimensional component using triangular ele- ‘ments Conceptually, the simplest approach is to use a piecewise linear approximation function, which leads naturally to a discretization with triangular elements in two dimensions or tetrahedral elements in three dimensions. Figure A.15 shows a two- dimensional component and a possible discretization using triangular elements. No- tice how larger numbers of smaller elements are placed in the re-entrant comer. This gives a better approximation to the curved boundary, but more importantly, it pro: vides additional degrees of freedom to approximate the rapidly varying stress and displacement fields due to the stress concentration Each node in two dimensions will have two degrees of freedom wi,u, which are conveniently combined as the vector {i} wasnt My Inside each triangular element, the displacement field is described by the linear func- tion us Art+ By+ CO (A.88)588 A The Finite Element Method and the conditions uj = Ax + By +C (A89) applied at the three comers of the triangle are necessary and sufficient to determine the three vector constants A,B,C’ and hence define the complete piecewise linear field in terms of the nodal displacement vectors uj, which therefore constitute the degrees of freedom in the formulation, ‘The two components of the vector shape functions ;(.x,y) corresponding to this discretization are those piecewise linear functions that satisfy equations (A.88, A.89) with 1 0 w= {i} ma {9}, respectively. Notice the similarities between this formulation and the beam bending formula- tion of §A.4, where the discretization also involves two degrees of freedom {1,6} at each node. The algebraic equations defining the u; can be obtained as before by developing, expressions for the strain energy U and the potential energy of the applied forces ©, and then applying the principle of stationary potential energy. Alternatively we can multiply the governing partial differential equation by the piecewise linear weight functions v (x,y) and integrate over the domain in which the unknown function is defined — here the two dimensional domain occupied by the body, so this will lead toa double integral. Generally it is necessary to integrate by parts to preserve appro- priate continuity conditions and, in two and three dimensions, this requires the use of the divergence theorem, but further discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of this book, A.6 Computational considerations The finite element method is widely used to solve problems for engineering sys- tems of considerable complexity and it is common for the resulting discrete model to involve very large numbers of elements and hence of unknowns in the result- ing equations. Various techniques are avaliable for reducing the computational time required to solve these equations, most of which take advantage of the fact that the stiffness matrix (.e. the coefficient matrix for the corresponding system of equations) is banded. When the matrix is banded, it follows that each unknown (nodal value) appears in only a few equations. It is therefore possible to eliminate any given variable from the system with a modest number of operations. Sequential use of this technique leads to a solution that is much more efficient than matrix inversion or other techniques that ‘would typically be needed when the coefficient matrix is full (Le, not banded) Example A.6 Solve the system of 5 equationsA.6 Computational considerations 589 21000) (G 4 14100/1G 2 O14 10/0 Gp=43 (4.90) oo14il]a 4 ooo012sla 2 The equations can be expanded as 21 4+Q=4 (A91) CH4Q +O = 2 (4.92) C+ 4C3 +4 = 3 (A93) Cr+ 4Crt Cs =4 (A94) Cy+2C5 = 2 (A.95) The first unknown, C; appears only in the first two equations, so it can be eliminated by multiplying (A.92) by 2 and subtracting (A.91) from it, with the result 1Cy + 2C3=0 (A.96) We next eliminate C> by multiplying (A.93) by 7 and subtracting (A.96) from it, with the result 26C4-7C4 = 21. (A97) Continued use of the same technique yields 98C4 + 26Cs = 83 (A.98) and finally 170Cs = 113 (4.99) or Cs = 0.6765. Equation (A.98) then gives 83 — 26 x 0.6765 Cy 98 0.6675 and the remaining unknowns are recovered one by one from equations (A.97, A.96, A.91) respectively as C3 =0.6280, Cp =—0.1794, Cy =2.0897. Anyone who has attempted to solve a system of five simultaneous equations by hand will realize that this procedure, which only works when the matrix is banded, is a great deal quicker than other methods. For a system of V simultaneous equations, it involves only N matrix row operations to find the last unknown, followed by another N operations to recover the full set of unknowns. This is a particularly simple example where the bandwidth of the matrix is only three — i.e. there are only three terms in each of the algebraic equations. In more complex problems, the band will be wider. For example it is of width 6 for the beam. bending formulation of equation (A.74). However, the computational effort involved. in this elimination procedure is still very much less than that required for direct inversion of the global stiffness matrix.