Finite Element Analysis

by
Jishnu Rajendran
School Of Physical Sciences

Summer Project Report

National Institute of Science Education and Research
Bhubaneswar

Acknowledgment
First I take this opportunity to thank the Almighty God,who really made me able to do
this project work. I would like to take up this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude
and extend my my best wishes to all the people who have guided,inspired and acknowledge
their cooperation.
I acknowledge my heartfelt thanks to project guide Mr. Sibi Joseph and each and all
for their guidance in carrying out this project.Also I here refer the software used:Abaquas
Sincere thanks to all employees and other students who helped me to complete this task
successfully.
Project Guide,
Mr. Sibi Joseph
CLDS,VSSC
Jishnu Rajendran

Abstract
An elementary introduction in finite element analysis is presented. The finiteelement method is applied to obtain approximate solutions of boundary value problems. Simply stated, a boundary value problem is a mathematical problem in which
one or more dependent variables must satisfy a differential equation everywhere within
a known domain of independent variables and satisfy specific conditions on the boundary of the domain like Heat transfer or Laplacian electrostatic field problems.

The finite element method (FEM), sometimes referred to as finite element analysis
(FEA), is a computational technique used to Boundary value problems are also sometimes
called field problems. The field is the domain of interest and most often represents a
physical system. The field variables are the dependent variables of interest governed by
the differential equation. The boundary conditions are the specified values of the field
variables (or related variables such as derivatives) on the boundaries of the field. Depending
on the type of physical problem being analyzed, the field variables may include physical
displacement, temperature, heat flux, and fluid velocity to name only a few.
In practice, a finite element analysis usually consists of three principal steps:
1. Pre-processing: The user constructs a model of the part to be analyzed in which the
geometry is divided into a number of discrete sub regions, or elements, connected at
discrete points called nodes. Certain of these nodes will have fixed displacements,
and others will have prescribed loads.
2. Analysis: The data set prepared by the preprocessor is used as input to the finite
element code itself, which constructs and solves a system of linear or non-linear
algebraic equations.One of FEAs principal advantages is that many problem types
can be addressed with the same code, merely by specifying the appropriate element
types from the library.
3. Post processing: In the earlier days of finite element analysis, the user would pore
through reams of numbers generated by the code, listing displacements and stresses
at discrete positions within the model. It is easy to miss important trends and hot
spots this way, and modern codes use graphical displays to assist in visualizing the
results. A typical post processor display overlays colored contours representing stress
levels on the model, showing a full-field picture similar to that of photoelastic or more
experimental results.

The purpose of FEM

For the stress analysis of structure there is two methods
1. Analytically solution :This one is a straight forward approach looking for simplifications and finding the solution.
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2. FEM :When the system and geometry becomes larger and complex and accuracy
requirement is higher we need
To understand the physical behaviors of a complex object (strength, heat transfer capability, fluid flow, etc.)
To predict the performance and behavior of the design; to calculate the safety
margin; and to identify the weakness of the design accurately.
To identify the optimal design.

Application
Application of FEM is growing to all fields.Some of the conventional fields are,
 Aerospace industry
 Designing of jets,missiles,space flight.
 Designing of light weight structures.
 Accurate stress analysis.
 Structural analysis.
 Fluid Flow.
 Acoustics.
Recently FEM is widely spread to other fields like EM field analysis,orthodontics etc...
For FEM analysis discretization is one main step A model body by dividing it into an
equivalent syste of many smaller bodies or units (finite elements) interconnected at points
common to two or more elements (nodes or nodal points) and boundary lines (or surfaces).

Types of Finite elements (Meshing)

According to dimensions
1. 1-D Line Element
2. 2-D Plane Element
3. 3-D Solid Element
In 3-D Solid elements there are several types of elements 4 nodal elements,6 nodal
elements and further increasing no. of nodes.
As number of nodes increases accuracy of FEM increases so as the
computation
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Features
Main features of FEM are we need to just obtain a set of algebraic equations to solve for
unknown nodal quantity like displacement or fields quantity. Secondary quantities (Stress
and strains) are expressed in terms of nodal values of primary quantity

Some Important concepts of FEM

Number of nodes hAccuracyi.
Number of nodes hComputationtimei.
Complex structure needs more efficient meshing or more number of nodes which is
not always possible.
Number of quad elements should be more than tri elements

Mesh generation
Mesh generators
The nite element models for practical analysis can contain tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands degrees of freedom. It is not possible to create such meshes manually.
Mesh generator is a software tool, which divides the solution domain into many sub-domains
finite elements. Mesh generators can be of different types. For two-dimensional problems,
we want to mention two types: block mesh generators and triangulators.
Block mesh generators require some initial form of gross partitioning. The solution domain is partitioned in some relatively small number of blocks. Each block should have some
standard form. The mesh inside block is usually generated by mapping technique. Triangulators are typically generate irregular mesh inside arbitrary domains. Voronoi polygons
and Delaunay triangulation are widely used to generate mesh. Later triangular mesh can
be transformed to the mesh consisting of quadrilateral elements. Delaunay triangulation
can be generalized for three- dimensional domains.
Mapping technique
Suppose we want to generate quadrilateral mesh inside a domain that has the shape of
curvilinear quadrilateral. Mapping technique shown in Fig can be used for this purpose.
If each side of the curvilinear quadrilateral domain can be approximated by parabola then

the do- main looks like 8-node isoparametric element. The domain is mapped to a square
in the local coordinate system ,.

Beam under a load

Governing Equation

In the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, the transverse deflection of the beam is governed by
a fourth order differential equation
2

2 [r(x) x2 ]
= f (, x), 0 x L
x2

(1)

subject to the free end boundary conditions

(0) = a0 ,

2 (0)
= b0 ,
x2

2 (L)
= bL .
x2
The function r(x) = E I is the product of Youngs modulus of elasticity E and moment
of inertia I of the beam. The transversely distributed load is f (x, ), while (x) is the
transverse deflection of the beam.On solving the above partial equation the solution is in
the form of
[Stif f nessmatrix][Displacementmatrix] = [f orcevector]
(L) = aL ,

where [Displacementmatrix] is calculated and bending of beam is calculated(simulated).

Heat transfer
A basic equation of heat transfer of an isotropic body with temperature dependent heat
transfer has the following appearance:
(

T
qx qy qz
+
+
) + Q = c
x
y
z
t

(2)

For a material with a certain Youngs modulus,thermal expansion,heat conductivity,Poissons

ratio,density will expand on heating and contract on cooling.

Bimetallic strip
A rod made of two materials with different Youngs modulus,thermal expansion,heat conductivity,Poissons ratio,density on heating one material will experience more expansion
than the other material and hence bending the rod As in the case of cooling the bending
will be in the other direction

Bibliography
1. Introduction to the Finite element method,G.P. Nikishkov
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2. Finite Element Method, A short Introduction to principles and ideas ; Kenny Erieben,University
of Copenhagen
3. Fundamental of FEA; David V Hutton
4. Wikipedia articles
5. Abaquas software manual