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FEA 12 Three-Dimension

This document discusses using 3D finite element modeling and analysis. It introduces the four-node tetrahedral element and brick elements for modeling 3D problems. It also discusses substructuring, where a large structure is broken into smaller substructures that are then assembled. Superelements are assemblies of elements that are treated as individual elements during analysis through static condensation, which eliminates interior degrees of freedom.

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Hossein Najjarzade
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69 views

FEA 12 Three-Dimension

This document discusses using 3D finite element modeling and analysis. It introduces the four-node tetrahedral element and brick elements for modeling 3D problems. It also discusses substructuring, where a large structure is broken into smaller substructures that are then assembled. Superelements are assemblies of elements that are treated as individual elements during analysis through static condensation, which eliminates interior degrees of freedom.

Uploaded by

Hossein Najjarzade
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Three-Dimensional FEM in Stress Analysis

So far we studied the finite element analysis of simplified models.


Now we are going to formulate the more realistic problems using 3-D FEM.
In this lecture the four-node tetrahedral element is presented in detail.
Problem modeling with brick elements will be also discussed.
We recall from the second lecture that:

X  x, y, z  T
U  u, v, w T

The stresses and strains are given by:

   x ,  y ,  z , yz , xz , xy  T

   x ,  y ,  z ,  yz ,  xz ,  xy 
T
T
 u v w v w u w u v 
  , , ,  ,  ,  
 x y z z y z x y x 


f  fx, f y , fz  T

T  Tx , Ty , Tz  T

Pi  Px , Py , Pz  T
Substructure & Superelement
• Superelements upon assembly, may be regarded as an
individual element for computational purposes, which
may be driven by modeling or processing needs.
• We can say that a superelement must form a structural
component on its own.
• Superelements may originate from two overlapping
contexts: “bottom up” or “top down.”
• In a bottom-up, superelements are built from simpler
elements.
• In a top-down, superelements may be thought as being
large pieces of a complete structure.
Substructure & Superelement cont….
• Macroelements are superelements assembled with a few
primitive elements.
• Substructures are assemblies of elements that result on
breaking up a structure into distinguishable portions.
• Both macroelements and substructures are treated
exactly the same way, in matrix processing.
• The basic rule is that they are associated with
condensation of internal degrees of freedom.
• The condensation applies to any superelement, whether
composed of two or a million elements.
Substructure & Superelement cont….
Substructuring was invented by aerospace engineers in the
early 1960s to carry out a first-level breakdown of
complex systems such as a complete airplane, as depicted
in figure;
Substructure & Superelement cont….
The decomposition may continue hierarchically through
additional levels as illustrated in figure;
Substructure & Superelement &
The concept is also natural for space vehicles operating in
stages, such as the Apollo short stack depicted in figure;
Substructure & Superelement & Static Condensation
• Degrees of freedom of a superelement are classified into two groups:
• Internal Freedoms are not connected to the freedoms of another
superelement. Nodes whose freedoms are internal are called internal
nodes.
• Boundary Freedoms are connected to at least another superelement.
They usually reside at boundary nodes placed on the periphery of the
superelement.
Substructure & Superelement & Static Condensation
• The objective is to get rid of all displacement degrees of freedom
associated with internal freedoms.
• This elimination process is called static condensation, or simply
condensation.
• Condensation may be presented in terms of explicit matrix
operations.
• Or using a more practical technique based on symmetric Gauss
elimination.
• The assembled stiffness matrix of the superelement can be
partitioned as follows:

where ub and ui collect boundary and interior degrees of freedom.


Substructure & Static Condensation cont….
From second matrix equation:
K ib u b  K ii u i  f i  u i  K ii1 f i  K ib u b 
Replacing into the first matrix equation yields the condensed
stiffness equations:
Kˆ u  fˆ
bb b b

Followings are called the condensed stiffness matrix and force


vector of the substructure.
ˆ  K  K K 1K
K bb bb bi ii ib , fˆb  f b  K bi K ii1f i
From this point onward, the condensed superelement may be
viewed, from the standpoint of further operations, as an individual
element whose element stiffness matrix and nodal force vector are
K̂ bb and f̂ .
b
Static Condensation by Symmetric Gauss Elimination
Static Condensation by Symmetric Gauss Elimination

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