Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements

The Finite Element Method

Solid Isoparametric Elements

The extension of the isoparametric formulation technique, from two dimensions to three, is very straight forward, and the vast majority of three dimensional elements are isoparametric in nature. Obviously we have to add a new curvilinear coordinate and the faces of the element are now defined by , , = 1. We need to add a global coordinate, with a corresponding displacement ; within an element = and = where ranges from 1 to the number of nodes. The extra dimension means the Jacobian now expands to a 3x3 matrix , , = , This can be inverted to give = element are , , ,
1

, 11 , = 21 , 31

12 22 32

13 23 33

7.1

. The six strains which describe the strain state of the = + + +

7.2

Over the elastic region of a material, there exists a relationship between the stresses and strains, according to the generalised Hookes law. These relationships are = 1 + 1 = + 1 = + = 1 1 = 1 =

7.3

Where = 2

1+

,solving gives the relationship = 7.4

where [] is a matrix consisting of terms containing Youngs Modulus and Poissons ratio.

Page 1 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 0

The Finite Element Method

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 2 0 0

0 0 0 7.5 0 0 1 2

1 +

Now in a similar process to the two dimensional case we can create the [] matrix from , , , , , , , , , 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 23 33 , , , , , , , , ,

, , , , , , , , , 11 21 31 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 , , , , , , , , ,

1 0 0 = 0 0 0 12 22 32 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1 0 0 13 23 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 , , , 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 1

0 0 0 1 0 0

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 22 32 0 0 0 , , , 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 1 0

0 0 0 0 0 1

0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 21 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 , , ,

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 22 32

7.6

0 0 0 11 21 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 , , ,

0 0 0 13 23 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 , , , 0 0 0

7.7

, , , 0 = 0 0 0 0 0

7.8

There are even more redundant matrix operations, involved in multiplying these 3 matrices to obtain the matrix, than occurred in the two dimensional case.

Page 2 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements

The Finite Element Method

Thus again it is simpler to note that we can express as , = , , , , = , , , , 7.9

which we can invert to obtain , , , , = , , , , = ,

, , ,

7.10

the result of this matrix multiplication is a 3 matrix (where is the number of nodes) whose elements can be thought of as , , etc in the top row and , etc in the middle row and , in the bottom row. Since , = , and similarly for the other derivatives, the matrix can be built from these terms. Having we can calculate

from
1 1 1

=
1 1 1

7.11

where the Jacobian determinant = det represents the ratio of the volume element to [] .

Three Dimensional Isoparametric Elements

The simplest three dimensional element is the linear brick
3

8 4 2 6

For this element the shape functions are simply the products of the linear shape functions, from lecture 4, expressed in terms of the three coordinates.

Page 3 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements = 1 + 1 + (1 + ) 8

The Finite Element Method 7.12

where = 1 and = 1,2 8 in exactly the same way as in the two dimensional case. The corresponding quadratic solid can have from 8 to 20 nodes
3 11 4 10 17 12 9 1 2 19 16 13 6 8

20 7 15 14

18

We can employ the same technique, for deriving the mid side node interpolation functions, as was used in the plane element. For the nodes on the plane = 0, this is the subset of nodes we will refer to as where = 17, 18, 19, 20, the following set of interpolation functions correspond to the plane case. = 1 2 1 + (1 + )/4 7.13

This consists of the central node quadratic function in , multiplied by linear functions in and . For nodes on = 0 where = 10, 12, 14, 16 the functions become = 1 + 1 2 (1 + )/4 For nodes on = 0, = 9, 11, 13, 15 = 1 + 1 + 1 2 /4 7.15 7.14

For the corner nodes, = 1, 2, 8 we start with the linear functions and remove the anomalies at the adjacent mid side nodes. = 1 + 1 + 1 + 8 ( + + )/2 7.16

Where ( + + )/2 refers only to the three nodes adjacent to node . This gives a full set of 20 interpolation functions corresponding to a full set of nodes, if any mid side nodes are missing; their interpolation functions are dropped from the expression ( + + )/2.

Page 4 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements

The Finite Element Method

Consistent Nodal Loads from Surface Tractions and Body Forces

What are consistent nodal loads 1. they are the nodal loads that represent the effects of surface or body forces 2. they are consistent if they do the same amount of work as the surface or body forces The work done by the body forces is {} integrated over the volume of the element where {} is a vector of the displacement fields in the element and {} is a vector of the body force components per unit volume in the global directions. The work done by the surface tractions is {} integrated over the surface of the element where {} is a vector of surface tractions. The external work done by these loads is

7.17

Where {} are the nodal degrees of freedom and {} are the shape functions. Minimising the external work done with respect to the nodal degrees of freedom gives the consistent nodal loads as

7.18

We will start by looking at how the first term can be used to calculate the effect of body forces such as gravity. Let us look briefly at how the nodal loads are distributed for the linear quadrilateral element, subject to a uniform body force in the global direction = {0 }. The volume integral of {} yields four equal nodal forces in the direction of 4, where is the area of the element and the thickness. This is true whatever the orientation of the element with regard to the axis and is what you might expect since the force is the volume of the element multiplied by the body force per unit volume, which is then divided equally between the nodes. Similarly for an eight noded cubic element each node has a force of 8 where is the volume of the element. However if we consider a quadratic element, under the same conditions, the forces at the mid side nodes and the corner nodes are not only different in magnitude but also direction. Although when summed they obviously total to the correct load.

= 1 3 = 1 12 4 4 = 1

Page 5 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements

The Finite Element Method

This non-intuitive result emphasises the importance of using consistent loads, especially with coarse meshes, although using = = 1 8 will give the correct answer in the limit, when very fine meshes are used. Now we will look at tractions on an edge, and will start with a distributed load on the edge of a triangular element.

In this case 0 = 0 0 0 0 0

Therefore evaluating the second part of equation 7.18 along the edge and realising that along this edge = 0, we have 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

= 2

7.19

So the effect of the distributed load along the edge is represented by two equal nodal forces at nodes and each having and components. The same applies for the other edges 0 0 0 0

7.20

You should notice that only the shape functions for nodes on the edge contribute. Page 6 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements

The Finite Element Method

Now let us consider a constant traction (pressure) on a quadratic edge, where = 1 (see following figure). The integral for the consistent nodal load considering only the non zero terms is
1

=
1

1 2 } = 2 6 3

1 6

7.21

assuming that the length of the edge is . The bars over the shape functions indicate that they are evaluated at = 1. = 2 3 = 1/6 = 1 3 , = 1 12

We could examine one surface of a solid element, say = 1 and achieve a similar result
1 1

=
1 1

18

16

8 1 12

17

12

1 1 1 1 = 4 12 3 12 3

1 1 1 3 12 3

7.22

Now let us consider a quadratically curved edge with a normal stress (pressure) and shearing stress .

= 1

= at node The integral to calculate the consistent nodal forces is

7.23

Page 7 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements

The Finite Element Method

where is an element of length along the edge and and are the tractive forces in the global directions . .cos . .sin . . = . .cos + . .sin = . + . but = , and = , . So the components of the nodal load are
1

7.24

= =

1 1

11 12 7.25 11 + 12

where is , , and and are evaluated on = 1. As a last example we will take a uniform traction, normal to one face = 1 of a three dimensional solid element. 5 2 1 6 7 Face = 1 8

We need to calculate

where is an element of area on the face and {} contains components in the , and directions. In order to do this we need the direction cosines of a normal to the face. In order to find a normal we take the cross product of two vectors lying in the face. Consider 1 and 2 . 1 = 21 i + 22 j + 23 k 2 = 31 i + 32 j + 33 k 7.26

where i, j and k are the usual unit vectors in the global , and directions and 1 is a vector in global coordinates in the direction of the axis and of length , 2 is a vector in the direction of the axis and of length . Thus the cross product of these vectors is a vector normal to the face and of magnitude = . Thus i + j + k = 1 2 1 2 = 1 2 7.27

Page 8 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022

Isoparametric Elements so

The Finite Element Method

Thus = 22 33 23 32 etc. But =

1 1

=
1

22 33 23 32 23 31 21 33 1 21 32 22 31

7.28

where the and all the are evaluated on = 1 and ranges over the nodes 5, 6, 7, 8. Example 7.1

Calculate the consistent load vector for the nine nodes on the top surface of the cantilever shown in Figure 7.1. The cantilever is constructed of 6 noded triangular isoparametric elements. Note the load distribution on each element can be thought of as a constant load plus a triangular load distribution. The shape functions for the quadratic triangular element are

40kN/m

1m
Figure 7.1

1m

1m

1m

= (2 1) = 2 1 = 2 1 = 1 3 + + 2 + = 4 = 4 = 4 1 = 4 = 4 1

The consistent load vector for an element is obtained from energy considerations as

where since we are dealing with surface loading we want the last term. This divides the effects of surface tractions, correctly between the nodes. The division is based on the consistent nodal loads doing the equivalent amount of work at the nodes as the distributed loads they replace. The results are often non-intuitive but lead to quicker convergence, than arbitrarily lumping load at the nodes. Assuming the element is configured as shown

Page 9 of 10

Lecture 7

Structures CENV3022 The consistent load vector becomes

Isoparametric Elements

The Finite Element Method

=
0

assuming that the length of the edge is . The bars over the shape functions indicate that they are evaluated at = 0. The load for any element consists of a linearly varying part which is 10 and a constant part which is zero for the left hand element 10 for the next. And so on up to 30 for the right hand element. The varying pressure gives
1

=
0

10 {

} 1 = 0

10 5 3 3

The constant pressure gives Therefore

1 1

} 1 1 =

1 2 6 3

1 6

0 = 3.33 1.67 0 3.33 3.33 = 3.33 + 13.33 = 16.67 1.67 3.33 5

0 1.67 1.67 = 3.33 + 6.67 = 10 1.67 1.67 3.33 0 5 5 = 3.33 + 20 = 23.33 1.67 5 6.67

Adding the contributions for the four elements gives 0 3.33 3.33 10 = 6.67 16.67 10 23.33 6.67

Page 10 of 10

Lecture 7