Syllabus – Fall 2016

ENGR 5420 Finite Element Analysis

COURSE: ENGR 5910 CRN: 48216 4 Credits

INSTRUCTOR: Dr Weidong Wu

Office: EMCS 440B

Phone: (423) 425-5822
E-Mail: Weidong-Wu@utc.edu
MEETING TIME: W 1:00 PM-4:50 PM

MEETING ROOM: EMCS 407

OFFICE HOURS: Open door policy or by appointment

DESCRIPTIONS:

An introduction to the finite element method; typical topics: structural analysis, structural dynamics, heat
transfer, fluid mechanics; use of typical large-scale computer programs; innovative design and analysis;
modeling techniques; geometric or material nonlinear analysis. Prerequisites: ENGR 2250; Mathematics
2450, 2550; approval of instructor. Differential Course Fee will be assessed.

OBJECTIVES:

1. The students should understand the mathematical and physical principles underlying the FEA.
2. Be able to identify and solve relatively complex engineering problems using commercial FEA
code such as Abaqus.
3. To provide students with basic skills of FEA programming using Matlab
4. Be able to write FEA technical report to clearly show his/her work

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to

1. demonstrate a basic understanding of the concepts, mathematical formulation and numerical
implementation
2. underlying the FEA as applied to solid mechanics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics
3. create his/her own FEA computer programs using Matlab to solve engineering problems;
4. analyze more complex problems using commercial FEA software ABAQUS;
5. demonstrate the ability to invoke appropriate assumptions, select proper elements and develop
FEA models that adequately and efficiently represent physical systems;
6. demonstrate the ability to deliver a professional FEA report of their work and give a well
organized presentation.

HOMEWORK:

1. Most homework assignments should include both hand calculations and computer modeling
verification using Abaqus, or Matlab. All HW assignments need to be submitted electronically to
Blackboard. You may use a scanner or your smart phone + CamScanner to digitize your

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Syllabus-ENGR 5420.48216 FALL 2016
 handwriting work (CamScanner is a free app that may be used with your smart phone to digitize
your HW assignments, educational users to get full version and extra 200M cloud space, it is your
responsibility to figure out how to use CamScanner)

TEXTBOOKS:

The 1st one is required and 2-4 are optional:

1. Jacob Fish, Ted Belytschko, A First Course in Finite Elements, Wiley 2007
2. Daryl L. Logan, A First Course in the Finite Element Method, Cengage Learning, 2011.
3. Olek C Zienkiewicz, Robert L Taylor, J.Z. Zhu, The Finite Element Method: Its Basis and
Fundamentals, Sixth Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann 2005
4. K.J. Bathe, Finite Element Procedures, Klaus-Jurgen Bathe, 2007

SOFTWARE:

Abaqus, Matlab or any other FEA packages

Student may request a free copy of student version Abaqus from Simulia. Registration may be
required before downloading.
UTC students may download Matlab for free by following the link to OIT software redistribution.
Students may use his/her UTC ID to access. You may need to register a Mathworks account.

GRADING POLICY:

A final grade will be assigned based on the following percentages:

Final exam: 30%
Mid-term exam: 30%
Course project (report and presentation): 20%
Homework including article reading assignment: 20%
The final score will also be based on the student’s overall performance.

PORJECTS AND HOMEWORK:

There will be one course project. The students are expected to identify their own problems to solve by
both hand calculations and computer simulation, a detailed report should be submitted to instructor by
deadline. The students will need present his work in the class.

Generally homework problems should be solved by hand calculations and verified by running FEA
software or Matlab code. The homework can be typed and nice and neat hand written homework is
acceptable, computer simulation results should be printed out and attached to the homework.

ADA STATEMENT:

Attention: If you are a student with a disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing,
etc.) and think that you might need special assistance or a special accommodation in this class or any
other class, call the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 425-4006 or come by the office, 102 Frist
Hall.

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Syllabus-ENGR 5420.48216 FALL 2016
 If you find that personal problems, career indecision, study and time management difficulties, etc. are
adversely affecting your successful progress at UTC, please contact the Counseling and Career
Planning Center at 425-4438 or http://www.utc.edu/Administration/CounselingAndCareerPlanning/.

HONOR CODE:

OFFENSES: Cheating on any exam, quiz, work to be completed in class; cheating on final
examination; theft or attempted theft of exam questions or possession of exam questions prior to
the time of the examination shall all be offenses subject to appropriate penalties. • PENALTIES:
The penalty for commission of any offense set out above is failure in the course and, subject to
the approval of the Chancellor, dismissal or suspension from the University.
ALL students have to complete “Syllabus and Honor Pledge Activity Fall 2016” which is
under “Academic Acknowledgment” on BB, otherwise, 5pts will be deducted from your final
weighted score.

TENTATIVE TOPICS (Subject to change):

1. Introduction to FEA and FEA procedures

2. Fundamentals of mechanics and essential mathematics
3. Introduction to Abaqus and Matlab
4. Direct Approach for discrete systems
5. Strong and weak forms for 1D and 2D problems
6. Formulation of finite elements
a. FEA in one dimension
b. The 2-D triangular element
c. The 2-D quadrilateral element
d. Isoparametric 2-D elements
e. The 3-D element
f. Beam element
g. Plate bending element
7. Computer implementation of FEA using Mablab

USEFUL LINKS:

FEA @ MIT

http://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-2-002-finite-element-procedures-for-solids-and-structures-
spring-2010/index.htm

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Syllabus-ENGR 5420.48216 FALL 2016