Higher Order Elements

In this section, we will develop a higherorder triangular element, called the LinearStrain Triangular (LST). This element has many advantages over the CST because it has 6 nodes and 12 displacements DOF. The displacement function of the triangle is quadratic.

The procedure to derive LST element stiffness and element equations is identical to that used for the CST element.

Steps in the formulation of LST element stiffness equations

L2= 0 L2= 1/2 L2= 1 y 1 6 4 3 2 5 x L3= 0 L3= 1/2 L3= 1

L1= 1 L1= 1/2 L1= 0

Step 1 : Discretize and Select element types Consider the triangular element shown below: Each node is defined by nodes numbers. Each node has 2 DOFs (displacements in x-,y- directions)

y
v5 5 u5

v3 3 u3 v4 4 u 4 v2 v6 v1 1 6 u6 2 u2

u1

Step 2 : Select Displacement Functions The variation of the displacements over the element may be expressed as

The CST and LST are variations of the Pascal Triangle.

1 x x x4
2

y xy y2

x 3 x 2 y xy 2 y 3
The displacement compatibility among the adjoining elements is satisfied because the 3 nodes defining adjacent sides define a unique parabola.

x 3 y x 2 y 2 xy 3 y 4

x 5 x 4 y x 3 y 2 x 2 y 3 xy 4 y 5
PASCAL TRIANGLE

Step 3 : Define the Strain-Displacement and Stress-Strain Relationships Elemental Strains: The strains over a 2D element are:

The above equation may be written in matrix form as:

Write

Observe that the strains are linear!! over the triangular element and that is why its called a linear-strain triangle (LST).

Step 4: Derive the Element Stiffness Matrix and Equations using the Total Potential Energy Approach

Step 5,6, and 7: Assembling the global stiffness matrix, determining the global displacements and calculating the stresses, are identical to the procedures used for CST elements.

The triangle has a base dimension of b and a height h, with mid-side nodes. We can calculate the coefficients a1 through a6 by evaluating the displacement u at each node.

3 (0,h) 4 (0.5b,0.5h)

5 (0,0.5h)

1 (0,0)

6 (0.5b,0)

2 (b,0)

Solving for the as gives

The u displacement equation is

Comparison of Elements

Observations
For a given number of nodes, a better representation of true stress and displacement is obtained using LST elements than is obtained using the same no. of nodes a finer subdivision of CST elements. The larger the no. of degrees of freedom for a given type of triangular element, the closer the solution converges to the exact one. Although the CST is poor in modeling bending, we observe from Table 2 that the element can be used to model a beam in bending if sufficient no. of elements is used through the depth of the beam. In general, both LST and CST analyses yield sufficient results for most plane stress/strain problems provided a sufficient number of elements are used (LST model might be preferred over the CST for plane stress when a relatively small no. of nodes is used). Most commercial programs incorporate the use of CST and/or LST elements for plane stress/strain problems although these elements are used primarily as transition elements (usually during mesh generation).

some other elements

4-noded rectangle y 2 1 a a b x b 3
1 x x2 x x x
5 4 4 3 3 2

In local coordinate system

N N N N
1

4
y xy
2 2 2 2

4 node; p=2

y2 y3 xy 3 y 4
3

( a + x )( b 4 ab ( a x )( b = 4 ab ( a x )( b = 4 ab ( a + x )( b = 4 ab

+ y) + y) y) y)

x y xy
3 2

x y x y

x y x y

x y

xy 4 y 5

8-noded rectangle
2

4 node; p=2 8 node; p=3

x x2 x3 x4 x2 y x3 y xy

y y2 xy 2 y 3

b
6

y a
7

Midside nodes
5

x 2 y 2 xy 3 y 4

x 5 x 4 y x 3 y 2 x 2 y 3 xy 4 y 5

1 8

b
3

x
4

2 2 a 2 x 2 (b + y) ( a x) b y N6 = N5 = 2 2 2 b 2 a a b 2 2 a 2 x 2 (b y) ( a + x) b y N7 = 2 2 N8 = 2a b a 2b

STATIC CONDENSATION

Corner nodes
(a + x)(b + y) N 5 N 8 (a x)(b + y) N 5 N 6 N2 = 4ab 2 2 4ab 2 2 (a x)(b y) N6 N 7 (a + x)(b y) N8 N 7 N3 = N4 = 4ab 2 2 4ab 2 2 N1 =