Eng. 6002 Ship Structures 1

An introduction to the finite element methodusing MATLAB

Overview This paper outlines an efficient approach to

introducing the finite element method This approach requires that the students have

some prior experience with MATLAB and a fundamental understanding of solid mechanics.

Only two-dimensional beam element problems are considered, to simplify the development.

The approach emphasizes an orderly solution procedure and involves important finite element concepts, such as the stiffness matrix, element and global coordinates, force equilibrium, and constraints.

Overview The ability of MATLAB to manipulate

matrices and solve matrix equations makes the computer solution concise and easy to follow.

The flexibility associated with the computer implementation allows example problems to be easily modified into design projects

and you may even feel motivated to modify things and tackle some other problems

Introduction We will decompose a structure into a finite

number of elements. Once each element is completely described with

appropriate geometric and material properties, the elements are properly combined or ‘assembled’

Introduction Each element is modeled as an elastic member for which

the displacement is linearly related to the applied loading.

where {f} is the element load vector, [k] is the element stiffness matrix, and {u} is the element displacement vector.

To indicate the specific element under consideration, a superscript will be used on the quantities in equation 1. The element or member loads can be a force, in which case the displacement is a linear translation, or a moment, in which case the displacement is an angular rotation.

ukf

Introduction To model the structure, the individual beam

elements are properly combined so that the entire structure is described by:

where {F} is the nodal load vector, [K] is the global stiffness matrix, and {U} is the nodal displacement vector.

The objective of the type of problems considered is determine the unknown nodal displacements.

UKF

Introduction For the purposes of this paper, the FEM can be

conveniently divided into five (or six) steps:1. construction of the element stiffness matrix in local

coordinates,2. transformation of the element stiffness matrix into global

coorindinates,3. assembly to the global stiffness matrix using transformed

element stiffness matrices,4. application of the constraints to reduce the global stiffness

matrix,5. determination of unknown nodal displacements.

An additional step that might be implemented is the post-processing of results, i.e. the determination of unknown forces or stresses from the calculated displacements.

The Method The first step in the formulation is to discretize

the domain, i.e., to select the number and type of elements. Only two-dimensional beam elements are considered in this study.

Each beam element has two nodes. Two-dimensional beam elements allow for an axial force

fx, transverse force fy, and a bending moment fθ at each node and have three degrees of freedom (dof) per node,

axial displacement ux, transverse displacement uy, and angular rotation uθ.

The positive sign convention is shown.

The Method The stiffness matrix for each element is

The Method The element stiffness matrix is a square

matrix whose size is given by:[number of nodes x dof per node] x [number of

nodes x dof per node] Thus, the stiffness matrix for a two-

dimensional beam element is 6 x 6 because of the three degrees of freedom associated with each node.

The Method this matrix describes the stiffness of an

elastic element that relates the load vector to the displacement vector

The Method To verify that this form of the stiffness

matrix is correct and to illustrate several FEM concepts, consider the situation of a cantilevered beam such that node 1 is constrained from movement, i.e., ux1

= uy1 = uθ1 = 0. Next, consider a downward force applied at

node 2, so that fy2 = -F and fx2 = fθ2 = 0.

The Method With these considerations, the system of

equations can be rewritten as:

The Method The solution to this system of equations yields

ux2 = 0, uy1 = -FL3/(3EI), uθ2 =-FL2/(EI), which agree with the expressions for the slope and

deflection at the tip of a cantilevered beam as given in any mechanics of materials textbook.

Further verification can be achieved with consideration of an applied axial load and then an applied moment (on your own).

The Method The second step in the development is to

transform the element load vector {f} and the element displacement vector {u} into the global coordinate system

Consider a beam element at an arbitrary orientation described by an angle θ, measured counterclockwise from the horizontal, and a global coordinate system indicated with a bar

The Method From simple trigonometry, the loads and

displacements in the global coordinate system can be related to the loads and displacements in the element coordinate system

uuff and

The Method Substitution of equation 6 into

equation 1 yields:

Then, for an orthogonal matrix []-1 = []T, the element equation can be written in global coordinates as:

where the element stiffness matrix transformed to global coordinates is defined as:

uf k

uf k

kk T

The Method The third step is to properly combine the

individual transformed element stiffness matrices to construct the global stiffness matrix that describes the entire structure.

We only consider beam elements that are connected ‘end to end’.

We’ll look at a two-element example.

Example Consider the case of two beam elements

connected ‘end to end’. The global stiffness matrix [K] for the two-

element case is 9 x 9 because beam elements have three degrees of freedom per node and there are three nodes in the structure.

Example The external loads at the nodes are given

by:

And the displacements at the nodes:

Example The external loads at the nodes are given

by:

And the displacements at the nodes:

Example Force and moment

equilibrium at each node requires that the sum of the element loads must equal the nodal loads and

compatibility at each node requires that the element displacements must equal the nodal displacements

Example cont. In order to easily combine the element stiffness

matrices, each element stiffness matrix is stored in a matrix the size of the global stiffness matrix, with the extra spaces filled with zeros.

In this example, the element stiffness matrix for element 1 is stored in the portion of the global stiffness matrix that involves nodes 1 and 2, i.e., the upper 6 x 6 portion of the matrix. Thus, the

expanded stiffness matrix that describes element 1 is given by:

Example cont.

Example cont. The element stiffness matrix for element 2 is

stored in the portion of the global stiffness matrix that involves nodes 2 and 3, i.e., the lower 6 x 6 portion of the matrix. The expanded stiffness matrix that describes element 2 is given by:

Example cont. The expanded individual stiffness matrices in

equations 16 and 17 can now be added together so that the global stiffness matrix for the two-element structure is given as:

Example cont. The fourth step is to apply the constraints and

reduce the global stiffness matrix so that the specific problem of interest can be solved.

At the point of constraint, the displacement of the structure is known.

Because these displacements are known, matrix algebra allows the removal of the corresponding rows and columns.

The resulting system of equations can be written as:

rrr UKF

Example cont. [K]r is the reduced global stiffness matrix that contains

information about the structure and the boundary conditions.

With MATLAB, rows and columns can be easily deleted, and a shift of the remaining elements in the matrix is performed automatically.

The final step is simply to solve the reduced system of equations for the unknown displacements.

MATLAB efficiently solves a system of equations with the backslash command. The backslash command uses

Cholesky factorization and Gaussian elimination to solve a system of equations

Next Class In the next class we will be developing a

matlab script to apply this methodology