INTRODUCTION INTO FINITE

ELEMENT NONLINEAR
ANALYSES
Doc. Ing. Vladimr Ivano, PhD.
Technical University of Koice
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics

HS Wismar, June 2009
2
CONTENS
1. Introduction
1.1 Types of structural nonlinearities
1.2 Concept of time curves
2. Geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis
3. Incremental iterative solution
3.1 Incremental method
3.2 Iterative methods
4. Material nonlinearities
5. Examples
3
Linear static analysis - the most common and the most
simplified analysis of structures is based on
assumptions:
static = loading is so slow that dynamic effects
can be neglected
linear = a) material obeys Hookes law
b) external forces are conservative
c) supports remain unchanged during loading
d) deformations are so small that change
of the structure configuration is neglectable
1. Introduction
1.1 Sources of nonlinearities
4
Consequences:
displacements and stresses are proportional to loads,
principle of superposition holds
in FEM we obtain a set of linear algebraic equations for
computation of displacements
F d K =
where
K global stiffness matrix
d vector of unknown nodal displacements
F vector of external nodal forces
5
1. Geometric nonlinearities - changes of the structure
shape (or configuration changes) cannot be neglected
and its deformed configuration should be considered.
2. Material nonlinearities - material behaves nonlinearly
and linear Hookes law cannot be used. More complicated
material models should be then used instead e.g.
Nonlinear analysis sources of nonlinearities
can be classified as
nonlinear elastic (Mooney-Rivlins model for materials like rubber),
elastoplastic (Huber-von Mises for metals, Drucker-Prager model to
simulate the behaviour of granular soil materials such as sand and
gravel) etc.
3. Boundary nonlinearities - displacement dependent
boundary conditions.
The most frequent boundary nonlinearities are encountered in contact
problems.
6
F d K =
F d R = ) ( we obtain a set of nonlinear algebraic equations
Consequences of assuming nonlinearities in FEM:
Instead of set of linear algebraic equations
Consequences of nonlinear structural behaviour
that have to be recognized are:
1. The principle of superposition cannot be applied. For
example, the results of several load cases cannot
be combined. Results of the nonlinear analysis
cannot be scaled.
7
2. Only one load case can be handled at a time.
3. The sequence of application of loads (loading
history) may be important. Especially, plastic
deformations depend on a manner of loading. This is
a reason for dividing loads into small increments in
nonlinear FE analysis.
4. The structural behaviour can be markedly non-
proportional to the applied load. The initial state of
stress (e.g. residual stresses from heat treatment,
welding etc.) may be important.
8
1.2 Concept of time curves
In order to reflect history of loading, loads are
associated with time curves.
Example - values of forces at any time are defined as
( )
1 1 1
f t F =
( )
2 2 2
f t F =
where f
1
and f
2
are
nominal (input)
values of forces and

1
and
1
are load
parameters that are
functions of time t.
9
For nonlinear static analysis, the time variable
represents a pseudo time, which denotes the intensity
of the applied loads at certain step.

For nonlinear dynamic analysis and nonlinear static
analysis with time-dependent material properties the
time represents the real time associated with the loads
application.

The most common case all loads are proportional to time:
10
2. Geometrically nonlinear finite
element analysis
Example linearly elastic truss
0 sin = P N o
. 0 =
+
P
L
u h
N
L
u h +
= o sin

0
,
=
y i
F

= 0
, y i
F
11
Condition of equilibrium
. 0 =
+
P
L
u h
N
c
0
A E N =
0
0
L
L L
= c
2 2
0
h a L + =
2 2
) ( u h a L + + =
where
engineering strain
axial force
0
A
cross-section of the truss
Initial and current length of the truss are
12
To avoid complications, it is convenient to introduce new
measure of strain Greens strain defined as
2
0
2
0
2
2L
L L
G

= c
2 2 2
0
h a L + =
2 2 2
) ( u h a L + + =
In our example is
hence
( ) ( )
2
0 0 0
2
0
2 2 2 2 2
2
1
2
2
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
+ + + +
=
L
u
L
u
L
h
L
h a u hu h a
G
c
13
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6
Al / l
0
s
t
r
a
i
n
Green's strain
Logarithmic strain
Engineering strain
Example of different strain measures
) 1 ln( ) ln(
0
log
c c + = =
L
L
Logarithmic strain (true strain)
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The stress-strain relation was measured as
c o E
A
N
= =
0
When using Greens strain the relation should be
G G G
G
E
E E c
c
c
c c
c
c
c
c
o
2
1
1
2
1
2
+
=
+
= =
G G
E
E
c c
c
o
*
2
1
1
=
+
=
c
2
1
1
*
+
=
E
E
This means that constitutive equation should be

15
If strain is small (e.g. less than 2%) differences are negligible
c
2
1
1
*
+
=
E
E
The new modulus of elasticity is not constant
but it depends on strain
AL / L
0
c c
G
E (MPa) E
-
(MPa) E c (MPa) E
-
c
G
(MPa)
0,0000 0,0000 0,000000 21 000 21 000 0 0
0,0050 0,0050 0,005013 21 000 20 948 105 105
0,0100 0,0100 0,010050 21 000 20 896 210 210
0,0150 0,0150 0,015113 21 000 20 844 315 315
0,0200 0,0200 0,020200 21 000 20 792 420 420
16
Assuming that strain is small, we can write
G G
A E A E A E N c c c
0 0
*
0
~ = =
and after substituting into equation
we can derive the condition of equilibrium in the form
. 0 =
+
P
L
u h
N
( ) P u h u h u
L
A E
= + +
2 2 3
3
0
0
2 3
2
17
-1000
-500
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
u [mm]
P [N]
Consequence of considering configuration changes -
relation between load P and displacement u is nonlinear
( ) P u h u h u
L
A E
= + +
2 2 3
3
0
0
2 3
2
Generally, using FEM we obtain a set of nonlinear algebraic
equations for unknown nodal displacements d
F d R = ) (
18
is tangent stiffness matrix
F d R = ) (
3. Incremental iterative solution
Assumption of large displacements leads to nonlinear
equation of equilibrium
d K d R d
d
R
d R d d R d ) ( d ) ( ) d (
T
+ =
c
c
+ = +
F F d d R d ) d ( + = +
d
R
K
c
c
=
T
F d K d d =
T
For infinitesimal increments of internal and external forces
we can write
where
19
3.1 Incremental method
The load is divided into a set of small increments AF
i
.
Increments of displacements are calculated from the set of
linear simultaneous equations
i i
i
T
F d K A = A
) 1 (
i i i
d d d A + =
1
Nodal displacements after force increment of AF
i
are
where K
T(i-1)
is tangent stiffness matrix computed form
displacements d
(i-1)
obtained in previous incremental step.
20
Incremental method
21
3.2 Iterative methods
Newton-Raphson method
Consider that d
i
is estimation of nodal displacement. As it
is only an estimation, the condition of equilibrium would not
be satisfied
This means that conditions of equilibrium of internal and
external nodal forces are not satisfied and in nodes are
unbalanced forces
F d R = ) (
i
F d R r = ) (
i i
22
Correction of nodal displacements can be then obtained from
the set of linear algebraic equations
i i
i
T
r d K = A
) (
and mew, corrected estimation of nodal displacements is
i i i
d d d A + =
+1
The procedure is repeated until the sufficiently accurate
solution is obtained.
The first estimation is obtained from linear analysis
F Kd =
1
23
Standard Newton-Raphson (NR) method
24
Modified Newton-Raphson (MNR) method - the same
stiffness matrix is used in all iterations
25
Combination of Newton-Raphson and incremental methods
26
4. Material nonlinearities
4.1 Nonlinear elasticity models
For any nonlinear elastic material model, it is possible
to define relation between stress and strain increments
as
D d d
T
=
Matrix D
T
is function of strains c. Consequently, a set of
equilibrium equations we receive in FEM is nonlinear and
must be solved by use of any method described above
27
4.1 Elastoplastic material models
The total strains are decomposed into elastic and plastic
parts
p e
+ =

c
c
=
Q
p
d d
The yield criterion says whether plastic deformation will
occur.
The plastic behaviour of a material after onset of plastic
deformations is defined by so-called flow rule in which is the
rate and the direction of plastic strains is related to the
stress state and the stress rate. This relation can be
expressed as
28
Constitutive equation can be formulated as
D d d
T
=
The tangential material matrix D
T
is used to form a tangential
stiffness matrix K
T
. When the tangential stiffness matrix is
defined, the displacement increment is obtained for a known
load increment
F d K A = A
T
As load and displacement increments are final, not
infinitesimal, displacements obtained by solution of this
set of linear algebraic equation will be approximate only.
That means, conditions of equilibrium of internal and
external nodal forces will not be satisfied and iterative
process is necessary.
29
The problem - not only equilibrium equations but also
constitutive equations of material must be satisfied. That
means that within the each equilibrium iteration step
check of stress state and iterations to find elastic and
plastic part of strains at every integration point must be
included.
The iteration process continues until both, equilibrium
conditions and constitutive equations are satisfied
simultaneously.
The converged solution at the end of load increment is
then used at the start of new load increment.
30
31
Example of non-linear static analysis bending of the beam,
considering elastoplastic material
bilinear material model
32
Detail of finite element mesh SHELL4T elements are
colored according to their thickness
33
Beginning of
plastic
deformations
Normal stress distribution
in the cross-section at mid
of the beam span.
Maximal
stress o
x

approaches
value of the
yield stress
34
Normal stress distribution after
increase of the load.
35
COLLAPSE inability of the beam to resist further load increase
36
37
38
Deflection versus load
39
Example of nonlinear dynamic analysis - drop test of
container for radioactive waste.
Simulation of a drop from 9 m at an angle to steel target
40
Reduced stresses at time 0,00187 s
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6 1,8 2,0
t [ms]
o

[
M
P
a
]
uzol 727
uzol 3437
uzol 3440
Time courses of reduced stresses at selected nodes
41
Drop on side of the lid check of screwed bolts
42
0,00165 s.
0,0027 s
43
Maximal displacements
44
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
time step
o

|
M
P
a
|
Bolt 1
Bolt 2
Bolt 3
Bolt 4
45
Drop along the top on the mandrel
46
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0 3,5 4,0
t [ms]
o

[
M
P
a
]
Drop along the top on the mandrel - time course of
maximal stress in the lid
47
Drop aside on the mandrel
48
Reduced stresses at time
0,00235 s
49
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0
t [ms]
o

[
M
P
a
]
50
Study of influence of residual stresses due to arc welding on load-
bearing capacity of a thin-walled beam.
Example:
51
Coupled thermal and stress analysis in following
steps:
1. Nonlinear transient thermal analysis
temperature dependent thermal material
properties c, k and density
temperature dependent convective heat transfer
coefficient
2. Nonlinear stress analysis
plastic deformations
large displacements
temperature dependent material mechanical
properties
52
Temperature field at time t = 5 s, 1
st
phase of welding
53
Temperature field at time t = 10 s, 1
st
phase
54
Temperature field at time t = 5 s, 2
nd
phase
55
Temperature field at time t = 10 s, 2
nd
phase
56
Temperature field after end of welding
57
Reduction coefficients for yield stress and modulus
of elasticity
y f y
f T k T
y
) ( ) ( = o
20
) ( ) ( E T k T E
E
=
f
y
yield stress and E
20
modulus of elasticity at 20
o
C
58
temperature field
stress field
59
60
61
62
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
t (s)
v

(
m
m
)
Deflection of the beam during welding
63
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
3
3,5
4
4,5
5
0 5 10 15 20 25
F (kN)
v

(
m
m
)
bez rezidulnych napt
(han)
nehan
unannealed
annealed
Maximum deflection versus load
F