Beam Element

September 15, 2018

1 ME G512 :Finite Element Method

1.1 Lecture 15: Beam Element
1.2 Dr. Keyur Joshi
Let’s now consider a beam element. Beam element has 2 degree of freedom at each node. v( x )
dv
and θ ( x ) = dx ( x ). Now, how do we come up with proper shape functions that satisfy all the

requirements? Let’s consider the approximate solution of the form.

v̂( x ) = c0 + c1 x + c2 x2 + c3 x3
dv̂( x )
= c1 + 2c2 x + 3c3 x2
θ̂ ( x ) =
dx
Now, According to Finite Element methodology, we want to express this approximate function
finally in the following form.

v̂( x ) = v1 N1 ( x ) + θ1 N2 ( x ) + v2 N3 ( x ) + θ2 N4 ( x )

and,
dv̂( x ) dN ( x ) dN2 ( x ) dN3 ( x ) dN ( x )
θ̂ ( x ) = = v1 1 + θ1 + v2 + θ2 4
dx dx dx dx dx
Let’s see how we can do that.
At x = 0, N1 (0) = 1 and N2 (0) = N3 (0) = N4 (0) = 0

v̂(0) = v1 ⇒ c0 = v1
dN2 (0) dN1 (0) dN3 (0) dN4 (0)
Similarly, when dx = 1, dx = dx = dx =0

θ̂ (0) = θ1 ⇒ c1 = θ1

When N3 (h) = 1, N1 (h) = N2 (h) = N4 (h) = 0

v̂(h) = v2 ⇒ v1 + θ1 h + c2 h2 + c3 h3 = v2

1
 ( v2 − v1 ) − θ1 h − c3 h3
c2 =
h2
dN4 (h) dN1 (h) dN2 (h) dN3 (h)
When dx = 1, dx = dx = dx =0

θ̂ (h) = θ2 ⇒ θ1 + 2c2 h + 3c3 h2 = θ2

substituting for c2
( v2 − v1 ) − θ1 h − c3 h3
 
θ1 + 2h + 3c3 h2 = θ2
h2
(θ2 − θ1 ) − 2h (v2 − v1 ) + 2θ1 1
c3 = 2 2
= 3 (θ1 h + θ2 h − 2(v2 − v1 ))
3h − 2h h
This leads to,
(v2 − v1 ) − θ1 h − (θ1 h + θ2 h − 2(v2 − v1 ))
c2 =
h2
1
∴ c2 = 2 (3(v2 − v1 ) − 2θ1 h − θ2 h)
h
Substituting all constants,

1 1
v̂( x ) = v1 + θ1 x + (3(v2 − v1 ) − 2θ1 h − θ2 h) x2 + 3 (θ1 h + θ2 h − 2(v2 − v1 )) x3
h2 h
Rearranging terms,

x2 x3 x2 x3 x2 x3 x2 x3
       
v̂( x ) = v1 1−3 2 +2 3 + θ1 x−2 + 2 + v2 3 2 −2 3 + θ2 − + 2
h h h h h h h h

Comparing with
v̂( x ) = v1 N1 ( x ) + θ1 N2 ( x ) + v2 N3 ( x ) + θ2 N4 ( x )
x2 x3
 
N1 ( x ) = 1 − 3 2 + 2 3
h h
x2 x3
 
N2 ( x ) = x − 2 + 2
h h
 2
x3

x
N3 ( x ) = 3 2 − 2 3
h h
x2 x3
 
N4 ( x ) = − + 2
h h
and corresponding derivatives,

dN1 ( x ) dN2 ( x ) dN3 ( x ) dN ( x )

θ̂ ( x ) = v1 + θ1 + v2 + θ2 4
dx dx dx dx
x2
 
dN1 ( x ) x
= −6 2 + 6 3
dx h h
x2
 
dN2 ( x ) x
= 1−4 +3 2
dx h h

2
 x2
 
dN3 ( x ) x
= 6 2 −6 3
dx h h
x2
 
dN4 ( x ) x
= −2 + 3 2
dx h h
Now, Let’s check final condition, i.e.,

N1 ( x ) + N3 ( x ) = 1

x2 x3 x2 x3
1−3 + 2 + 3 − 2 =1
h2 h3 h2 h3
dN1 ( x ) dN3 ( x )
This also means dx + dx = 0 but,

x2 x2
   
dN2 ( x ) dN4 ( x ) x x
+ = 1−4 +3 2 + −2 + 3 2 6= 1
dx dx h h h h

What happened? Our conventional notion of shape function is violated? Well, the fact is, since
v̂( x ) and θ̂ ( x ) are not independent completely, their shape functions have some complex relation.
If you notice,

x2 x3 x2 x3
 2
x3 x2 x3
      
x
v̂( x ) = v1 1 − 3 2 + 2 3 + θ1 x − 2 + 2 + v2 3 2 − 2 3 + θ2 − + 2
h h h h h h h h

x2 x3
 2
x3 x2 x3 x2 x3
    
x
v̂( x ) = v1 1 − 3 2 + 2 3 + v2 3 2 − 2 3 + (θ1 − θ2 ) x − 2 + 2 + − 2
h h h h h h h h
x2 x3 x2 x3
     x  x 
v̂( x ) = v1 1 − 3 2 + 2 3 + v2 3 2 − 2 3 + (θ1 − θ2 ) h 1−
h h h h h h
This last term is zero at x = 0 and at x = h, but has contributions for other locations. That means
v̂( x ) is not a simple linear interpolation between v1 and v2 but has some contribution from nodal
slopes also. Similarly, consider

dN1 ( x ) dN2 ( x ) dN3 ( x ) dN ( x )

θ̂ ( x ) = v1 + θ1 + v2 + θ2 4
dx dx dx dx
x2 x2 x2 x2
       
x x x x
θ̂ ( x ) = v1 −6 2 + 6 3 + θ1 1 − 4 + 3 2 + v2 6 2 − 6 3 + θ2 −2 + 3 2
h h h h h h h h
x2 x2 ( v2 − v1 )  x 
   
x x x 
θ̂ ( x ) = θ1 1 − 4 + 3 2 + θ2 −2 + 3 2 + 12 1−
h h h h h h h
This contribution from other degree of freedom accounts for cubic interpolation for v̂( x ) and
quadratic interpolation for θ̂ ( x ).