Finite Element Method 1 – lecture notes LINEAR ELASTOSTATICS Page 1 of 10

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TWO AND THREE- DIMENSIONAL LINEAR ELASTOSTATICS

The finite elements of trusses and beams are, due to specific assumptions and simplifications, one –dimensional. All field problems
of stress analysis are in fact three-dimensional. In some limited cases the mathematical description of the problem may be formally reduced to
two dimensional models (plane stress state, plane strain state, axisymmetry) or ore even one dimensional as discussed bef.
Consider a linearly elastic body of volume Ω, which is bounded by surface Γ.
Data:
y (x2)
Ω –the analysed volume (domain),
Xi
pi Γ –the boundary,
pi –boundary tractions [N/m2].,

X i –body forces [N/m3].

ui , ij , ij
prescribed displacements ui on on the part
e of the boundary Γ

Unknown internal fields:

u i –displacement field,
ε ij – strain state tensor,
x (x1)
σ ij – strss state tensor,
z (x3)
The body is referred to a three (or two) dimensional, rectangular, right-handed Cartesian coordinate system xi , i=1,3 (or x,y,z). The body is in
static equilibrium under the action of body forces Xi in Ω, prescribed surface tractions pi and prescribed displacements ui on on the
boundary Γ The three unknown internal fields are displacements ui , strains ε ij and stresses σ ij . All of them are defined in Ω.

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Component notation (Einstein indicial notation) for Cartesian tensors

The notation is used in rectangular Cartesian coordinates. In this notation, writing ui is equivalent to writing the three components u1, u2, u3 of the
displacement field u.
The Einstein summation convention is a tensor notation, which is commonly used to implicitly define a sum. The convention states that when an
index is repeated in a term that implies a sum over all possible values for that index.
Three examples:
∂ui ∂ui ∂u1 ∂u2 ∂u3
=∑ = + +
∂xi i ∂xi ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3

∂ui ∂ui ∂u ∂u ∂u
nj = ∑ n j = i n1 + i n2 + i n3
∂x j j ∂x j ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3

aij xj = bi i,j=1,n denotes the set of n linear equations

The indication of derivatives of tensors is simply illustrated in indicial notation by a comma.

∂f
f ,i =
∂xi
The comma in the above indicial notation indicates to take the derivative of f with respect to the coordinate xi .
∂ui ∂ui ∂u1 ∂u2 ∂u3
Examples: ui ,i = =∑ = + +
∂xi i ∂xi ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3
∂u ∂ui ∂u ∂u ∂u
ui , j n j = i n j = ∑ n j = i n1 + i n2 + i n3
∂x j j ∂x j ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3
1 if i = j 
The Kronecker delta is a convenient way of expressing the identity in indicial notation: δ ij =  
 0 if ≠ j 
The Kronecker delta follows the rules of index notation: Aik = δ ij A jk

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Strain state:

y ∂u x
ux + dy
3 extensional strains 3 shearing strains ∂y
∂u x ∂u x ∂u y
εx = γ xy = + ∂u y ∂u x
∂x ∂y ∂x u B’ C’
α= β=
∂u y ∂u ∂u x β ∂x ∂y
εy = γ xz = x + z γ xy= α + β
∂y ∂z ∂x D’
∂u ∂u ∂u y A’ α
εz = z γ yz = z + B C ∂u y
∂z ∂y ∂z uy uy + dx
dy ∂x
γxy , γyz, γzx - engineering shearing strains A D
dx

x
The strains may be written in the form of symmetric matrix assuming that
εxy= γxy/2 , εyz= γyz/2 , εzx= γxz/2. In this case the strains components form the symmetrical strain tensor.
The components of the strain tensor εij are often written in the form of symmetric matrix.

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ε ij =
1
2
( ui, j + u j ,i ) ( εij=εji ) - kinematic equations

Stress state : stress tensor σ ij

Constitutive equations ( 3D Hook’s law)

σz (εz)
ν
ε x = 1 [σ x − ν(σ y + σ z )] (ε x + ε y + ε z )
 E 
σx =  εx +
E  1+ ν  1 − 2ν
 ν
τzy E 
(ε x + ε y + ε z )
τzx
1
E
[
ε y = σ y − ν(σ x + σ z ) ] 

σy = 
1+ ν 
εy +
1 − 2ν
εz + ν

τxz 1
[
εz = σz − ν σx + σy ( )]  σz =
E 

1+ ν  1 − 2ν
(ε x + ε y + ε z )
E 
⇒
σy (εy) γ xy = 1 τ xy 
τxy τyx G  τ xy = G ⋅ γ xy
1 
σx (εx) γ yz = τ yz 
τ yz = G ⋅ γ yz
G 
1 
γ xz = τ xz 
G  τ xz = G ⋅ γ xz
σx= σxx σy= σyy σz= σzz
E
E-Young’s modulus, G= - shear modulus, ν- Poisson’s ratio
2(1 + ν )

 v  1  v 
σ ij = 2G ε ij + δ ij ( ε kk ) ε ij =  σ ij − δ ijσ kk  (εkk= ε11 +ε22 +ε33)
 1 − 2v  2G  1+ v 

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Strain energy density:
σ xε x + σ yε y + σ zε z + τ xyγ xy + τ yzγ yz + τ zxγ zx 
1
U'=
2

U’= ½ εij σij

Principle of the total potential energy:
1
σ ijε ij d Ω − ∫ X i ui d Ω − ∫ pi ui d Γ =min ,
2 Ω∫
V = U − Wz =
Ω Γ

Matrix notation
Matrix notation is a modification of direct tensor notation in which everything is placed in matrix form, with some trickery used if need be. The
main advantages of the matrix notation are historical compatibility with finite element formulations, and ready computer implementation in
symbolic or numeric form.

The representation of scalars, which may be viewed as 1 × 1 matrices, does not change. Neither does the representation of vectors because

vectors are column (or row) matrices. Two-dimensional symmetric tensors are converted to one-dimensional arrays that list only the independent
components (six in three dimensions, three in two dimensions). Component order is a matter of convention, but usually the diagonal components
are listed first followed by the off-diagonal components.

σ x  εx 
σ  ε 
 y  y
σ z  ε
For the strain and stress tensors this “vectorization” process produces the vectors σ =   , {ε } =  z  ,
τ xy  γ xy 
τ yz  γ yz 
   
τ zx  γ zx 

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The relation between the strains and the displacement components in matrix notation:

{ ε ( x, y , z ) } = [ R ] { u ( x, y , z ) } ,

[R] is called symmetric gradient matrix in the continuum mechanics literature.

For 3 dimensional case :
∂ 
 ∂x 0 0
 
0 ∂
0
σ x  εx   ∂y 
σ  ε   
 y  y 0 ∂
0 ux   u 
σ  ε  ∂z 
σ =  z , {ε } =  z  , [ R] =  ∂ ∂ , {u} = u y  = υ 
τ xy  γ xy   0    
τ yz  γ yz   ∂y ∂x   uz   w 
     ∂ ∂
τ zx  γ zx  0 
 ∂z ∂y 
∂ ∂
 0 
 ∂z ∂x 
In 2D case
∂ 
 0
σ x  εx   ∂x 
  u 
σ = σ y  , {ε } =  ε y  , 
[ R] =  0
∂
, {u} =  .
τ  γ   ∂y  υ 
 xy   xy  ∂ ∂
 
 ∂y ∂x 

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Hook’s law:

1− v v v 0 0 0
v 1− v v 0 0 0
v v 1− v 0 0 0
1 − 2v
{σ } = [D ]{ε }, [ D] =
E
(1 + v )(1 − 2v )
0 0 0
2
0 0

1 − 2v
0 0 0 0 0
2
1 − 2v
0 0 0 0 0
2
.

Plane stress state (σ z = 0, τ yz = 0, τ zx = 0 ) Plane strain state (ε z = 0, γ yz = 0, γ zx = 0 )

1 v 0 1− v v 0
E
[ D] = 2 v 1 0 [D] = E
v 1− v 0 .
1− v (1 + v)(1 − 2v) 1 − 2v
1− v 0 0
0 0 2
2
Strain energy density

1
U' = ε  {σ }
2
1
V = U − Wz = ε  {σ }d Ω − ∫  X  {u}d Ω − ∫  p  {u} d Γ
Total potential energy :
2 Ω∫ Ω Γ

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Finite element method for 2D and 3D problems of theory of elasticity:
LE
The domain Ω is divided into the subdomains (finite elements) Ωi : Ω = ∪ Ωi Ωi ∩ Ω j = 0 i≠ j .
i =1

v
2Delementy dwuwymiarowe
elements
u

LWE=3
6DOF LWE=6
12DOF LWE=4
8DOF LWE=8
16DOF
w
3D elements
elementy trójwymiarowe
v
u

LWE=4 LWE=10 LWE=8 LWE=20

12DOF 24DOF 24DOF 60DOF
LWE - liczba węzłów elementu

2D and 3D finite elements

Displacement field over the element is interpolated from the nodal displacements:
{u} = [ N ( x, y, z )] {q}e ,
where {q}e - nodal displacements vector , [N ] - shape functions matrix.

For example for the simplest trangular element with 3 nodes and 6 DOF the relation is

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 u1 
υ 
 1
 u ( x, y )   1
N ( x , y ) 0 N ( x , y ) 0 N ( x , y ) 0  u2 
=
2 3
   where Ni are the linear functions
υ ( x, y )   0 N1 ( x, y ) 0 N 2 ( x, y ) 0 N 3 ( x, y )  υ2 
u3 
 
υ3 
Shape functions Nij are usually polynomials defined in local (element) coordinate systems.
Displacements, strains and stresses within each element are defined as the functions of the coordinates of the considered point and the nodal
displacements
{u} = [ N ] {q}e ,
{ε } = [ R ] {u} = [ R ][ N ] {q}e = [ B ] {q}e , [B] – strain-displacement matrix
{σ } = [ D ] {ε } = [ D ][ B ] {q}e .
The strain energy of the element Ωe is:
1
Ue = ε  {σ } d Ω e .
2 Ω∫e

1
 q  e [ k ]e {q}e .
1
Ue = ∫  q  e [ B ] [ D ] [ B ] {q}e d Ω e , Ue =
T

2 Ωe 2
Where

[ k ]e = ∫ [ B ] [ D ][ B ] d Ωe = ∫  B∗  d Ωe ,
T

Ωe Ωe

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is called the stiffness matrix of the element (symmetrical, singular, semi-positive defined) with the range equal to the number of DOF of the
element. Matrix [B] depends on the position within the element so the integration requires the special numerical techniques.
Total strain energy of the structure is the sum of the finite elements energy:
LE
U = ∑ U e . (LE- number of finite elements in the model)
e =1

1
Using the global nodal displacement vector {q} U=  q  [ K ] {q} ,
2 1×n n×n nx1
where n is total number of DOF of the model and [ K ] is the stiffness matrix of the model.

The next step in FEM algorithms is finding the equivalent nodal forces {F} corresponding to the distributet loads {p} and {X}.
The total potential energy of the model is:

1
V = U − Wz =  q  [ K ]{q} −  q { F } ,
2 1×n n×n n×1 1×n n×1
The minimum is determined by the conditions
∂V
= 0,
∂qi

[K ]{q} = {F }. (to be solved using neccesary displacement boundary conditions)

The strain and stress components in each finite element are found using the relations

{ε } = [ B ] {q}e , {σ } = [ D ] {ε } = [ D ] [ B ] {q}e
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