______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW 1. THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD IN CIVIL ENGINEERING Due to the actual evolution of technology, engineers have to create more and more complex and expensive design projects for witch experimental data obtained on equivalent physical/material scale-models became unproductive. Representations of the real world by virtual models using the computer technology is now available in almost all fields of the engineering design, from aerospace projects to environmental optimization, from transportation to electronics and computer industry. The virtual models allow the simulation of any complex physical system, in order to withdraw concussions on its behavior and various parametric influences, before building the real one. In the mean time, this procedure has two major advantages: the virtual models, build on platforms of commercial computer codes, are cheaper then analogous scale models; the virtual models are ideal for a feed back type of analyses, finally leading to an optimization process for systems depending on a huge number of parameters.

From the point of view of an engineer, the behavior of physical systems in nature can be described using mathematical relationships, such as equations with partial derivatives or integro-diferential equations. Unfortunately, complex practical problems can not be solved by analytical means, only few classical solutions being available. The evolution of computer technology in the last decades of the 20th Century opened the way for engineers to apply theoretical mathematical findings with roots in the 19th Century, in order to solve such complex problems as structure design, thermal or electro-magnetic field distribution, seepage/pollution spreading phenomena and others. The Finite Element Method (FEM), in a very general approach, is based on the decomposition of a domain of the real world (the domain to be studied

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a structure, an area, o body) in a finite number of discreet domains (called elements), that remain connected in specific points (called nodes). The decomposition, called meshing, leads to a new physical system witchs behavior should be very close to the real one, when similar properties and boundary conditions are assigned. In the background, the method uses approximations of the unknown variables in order to transform the analytical equation system with partial derivatives (characterizing the real domain) into an algebraic system with a finite number of equations.

IDEALIZATION

DISCRETIZATION

SOLUTION

PHYSICAL SYSTEM

MATHEMATICAL MODEL

DISCRETE MODEL

DISCRETE SOLUTION

FEEDBACK OPTIMIZATION (ERROR MINIMIZATION)

Fig. 1.1 Transition steps from the physical system to the discrete solution

For the method development, three main components are involved: engineering science, to express the equation system with partial derivatives according with the physical phenomenon; numeric methods, to build and solve the algebraic equation system; computer programming and IT, to implement the previous ones into a computer code.

The Finite Elements Analyses (FEA) can be performed on two dimensional (2D or plane) problems, as well as on three dimensional (3D) ones. Not only spatial variables are implicated in the analyses, but also scalars as temperature or water head. A FEA can solve a static problem but also a transient one, the parameter time being in this case involved. The physical properties governing the system behavior may change during the analyses,

______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

the boundary conditions too, large deformation may occur, all these leading to nonlinear solutions. The most important fields of interest for using the FEM in civil engineering are: a. Structure design and verification i.e. assessment of displacements and stress state in civil engineering structures by conducting static and/or dynamic analyses; optimization of structure components; assessment of structure sensibility to various parameters (as heating/cooling temperature, material properties, boundary conditions, etc). b. Rock mechanics and geotechnical problems, especially structure foundation layer interaction. c. Assessment of ground seepage phenomena or thermal field problems related to massive structures. d. Fluid mechanics problems when modeling fluid behavior or fluid structure interaction. Some examples are presented in the following chapter. 2. HYSTORICAL ROOTS AND EVOLUTION OF THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD The mathematical background of the discrete Structural Mechanics is dated around 1860 when matrix algebra started to develop in United Kingdom and Germany. From the beginning, the main purpose was to enable a compact language for mathematical investigations such as the solutions to algebraic and differential equations. Before 1930 few applications in science and technology for the matrix algebra were found. The evolution of aircraft technology and the first calculating machineries before the World War II provided the main impulse to use matrix algebra in complex calculation sequences. From the beginning, two basic formulations for Matrix Structural Analyses (MSA) were applied, according to the so-called primary unknowns: the Displacement Method (DM - where unknowns are generalized displacements) and the Force Method (FM - where unknowns are redundant forces or stresses). Additional methods, combining displacements, forces and deformations were also developed. During the 5th decade of the 20th
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Century, due to their similarities in application, both methods were used in structural analyses, the engineers choice being a matter of taste. In 1959 M.J. Turner proposed the Direct Stiffness Method (DSM) as an efficient and general computer implementation of the embryonic, and as yet unnamed, Finite Element Method. The technique encompassed structural and continuum models, as well as nonlinear, stability and dynamic simulations. By 1970 DSM became the dominant implementation in production-level FEM programs.* The Structural Mechanics applied to structures built on one-dimensional components didnt change much from the early stages. The behavior of each beam or truss component is characterized by an elementary stiffness matrix based on the classic Strength of Materials hypothesis. Based on these elementary stiffness matrices, taking into account the nodal displacement continuity and the nodal forces equilibrium conditions, an algebraic equation system can be written. By solving the system for a given set of applied loads the primary unknowns the displacements are found. The use of space continuum forms as basis for multidimensional elements was firstly applied to triangular geometries by Turner, Clough, Martin and Topp. Rigorous compatibility and completeness requirements were stated by Melosh and Irons (1955 1959). The real improvement to Structural Mechanics due to the DSM FEM, between 1950 and 1960, is the extension to two dimensional (2D) linearelastic elements. Any planar area (2D solid body) with elastic material properties could be meshed in plane triangular elements, connected in nodes. The displacement field on each element is varying linearly on its surface, according to the nodes displacements. The behavior of each element is governed by its stiffness matrix. Boundary conditions and loads are applied on nodes. Like for one-dimensional components, the primary unknowns are the nodal displacements.

* C. A. Felippa - Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and Center for Aerospace StructuresUniversity of Colorado, Boulder, USA Report CU-CAS-00-14, June 2000; Computers & Structures

______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

The aircraft industry was the leading force in FEM improvement. In-depth analysis requirements for structural and aerodynamic optimization, the necessity to get answers in new areas of study as buckling, fracture or fatigue analyses (due to well known aircraft disasters), had an important role for the methods development. The method was re-formulated by using energetic and variational principles, under the general form of weightedresidual minimization. The main characteristic was the stiffness matrix assembly procedure, by addition of matrices associated with elements in a unique table the global stiffness matrix of the structure. The Direct Stiffness Method (DSM), as a prelude of the FEM, was implemented in freely disseminated computer codes starting with 1963, due to the Civil Engineering Department at Berkley University, coordinated by R. W. Clough. The same trend was noticed at other authors involved in structural analysis, as H. C. Martin at Washington University and O. C. Zienkiewicz at Swansea. The computer technology progress pushed forward the theoretical research, clarifying doubts and suggesting options. The first commercial computer was the Univac I, available on market in 1951, followed in 1952, by Univac 1103, the first one with a drum memory. The first IBM machine, model 701, was launched in 1953. Although the digital approach increased the speed and reliability of the computing machines, at that time the memory performances were still very low (2048 36-bit words for IBM 701). A great deal of effort was done to find the appropriate solutions for matrix reduction techniques, involving data storage and equation system solutions (static condensation, partitioning, etc). Computer code languages (programming) also knew a parallel development. In the first stages of digital computations, structural engineers had no access to computer code assignment. Only after 1957, a friendly language dedicated to a large field of applications became available: the first version of FORTRAN on the IBM 704 machine. After 1965, the FEM was recognized as a general tool for solving differential equation systems, being extended to analyses of non-linear and non-stationary (time-dependent) structural problems as well as to other fields of engineering as rock mechanics, fluid mechanics, thermal field problems, etc.
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The latest developments of the FEM are based on two parallel evolutions, both leading to the precision enhancement, mainly the error minimization (the error being the difference between the real physical system behavior and the results obtained on the finite element model): the improvement of the mathematical support to create high precision elements, specialized elements and computation techniques for solving nonlinear and time-dependent problems; the growth of computing power, due to hardware technology progress, which enables FEM users to create more refined models; supplied with high speed processors and huge memory, the new computers allow a spectacular increase of elements number, time/load stepping and iterations number to achieve solution convergence, etc.

Starting with 1967, a remarkable number of books and papers were published concerning the subject of FEM, most of them in the United States, where the software industry was always in a leading position. Besides classics as M.J. Turner, R.W. Clough, H.C. Martin, L.J. Topp, J.H. Argyris, C.A. Felippa, R.H. Gallagher, K.J. Bath, C. Taylor and others, probably the most known author is C. O. Zienkiewikz. Nowadays, the FEM is widespread in almost all domains of industrial research, from aerospace to domestic articles design, from civil engineering to medicine or environmental planning. Commercial computer codes dealing with FEA are available on the software market with remarkable performances even on PCs or UNIX working stations. Some well known computer codes developed during the short history of FEM are NASTRAN, SAP, ANSYS, ADINA, ABAQUS, MARC, TITUS and others. Such computer codes are equipped with powerful subroutines for preprocessing and post-processing abilities, element libraries with hundreds of elements, available for any type of analysis, a friendly user interface and amazing graphics. 3. THE AIM OF THE LECTURE NOTES From the beginning it should be emphasized that the following lecture notes are dedicated to undergraduate students in civil engineering, in order to achieve elementary skills as users of the FEM. The theoretical aspects of the
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______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

method, based on previous accumulated knowledge (as Strength of Materials, Elasticity, Statics and Dynamics, Hydraulics) will be drastically sifted, preserving only the fundamentals needed for understanding the background of computer calculations (or whats happened inside?). As far as possible, each chapter will contain at least one simple example regarding its content. An important role is paid to practical work during laboratory and seminar sessions, where students have the opportunity to apply, as far as good, their modeling skills. Although it seams to be a non-ambitious goal, from a realistic point of view one should have in mind the reasons for this decision: the mathematical (analytical) support of the method, for an in-depth knowledge, is far too difficult to a medium student, being a possible and consistent subject on its own; the evolution of computer-science, programming techniques as well as the market competition between commercial software dedicated to the Finite Element Analyses (FEA) make hard to believe a possible improvement by a common civil engineer; of course, further knowledge can be achieved in postgraduate education and research; the complexity of dedicated software, with new releases almost every year, directs teaching to the main principles of modeling, solving and results overview, rather than into detailed capacities and settings of the computer codes; at last but not at least, the lectures are inscribed into the framework of the curriculum, meaning a limited available number of teaching hours.

Despite this apparently non-ambitious goal, the students have the opportunity to learn the main topics to be followed running a FEA, to use the educational version of a well known dedicated computer code and to learn its main procedures and commands during laboratory work. To define the FEM users position (i.e. usually as a researcher or a design engineer), the main steps in the scheme represented in figure 1.1 should be modified. The physical system a structure, a domain, a body existing or in concept stage, is subjected to a simultaneous process of idealization and discretization by creating the virtual FE model. In fact, the user of a FEM code is skipping the analytical stage, having a direct access to the discrete
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model. All mathematical theory on which the method is founded lies in the background. Visible are only the practical rules of modeling, solving and results withdrawal, through the specific commands and procedures of the computer code. While modeling the physical system, the user has to know and to assign complete information regarding the systems geometry, regarding the parameters which define its behavior (as material properties, temperature, etc), the boundary conditions (external and inter-component interactions) and, eventually, the time-dependency of the previous ones. Based on this information, the computer code builds the virtual FE model (usually as a database file). Operations as database building, matrix calculations, solving the equations systems and creating the results database files, are running in the background. The user may only receive continuous or selective information about the stage and evolution of the analysis, as well as warning or error messages. Its up to the user to apply the appropriate computer code commands when defining the virtual model (choosing, for example, a material behavior or a set of boundary conditions). The measurement units or the refinement of the mesh are also the users choice. However, of the utmost importance is the results interpretation. The main risk for an inexperienced student or engineer is to validate the results, only because they are provided by an expensive computer code, without an attentive checking. The user should always have appropriate means to verify the results before completing or validating a FEA. Erroneous results or computing problems are always due to a wrong model concept, data entry, or by using wrong commands. The machine never fails! 4. NOTATIONS The most frequent encountered notations are listed in the table below, besides their meaning. In order to avoid confusions, some of them use different character typing as it will be stated as usual in the last chapter, conceived as a remainder of vector and matrix algebra fundamentals. For example, vectors like temperature {T} are written as upper cases, while t written in lower case means time. Similar arguments are available for other vector notations.

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______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

[B], B [C], C [E], E {}, {}, {d}, d {F}, F {H}, H [I], I [K], K [Kq], Kq [M], M [N], N [0], 0 {R}, R {}, {T}, T {v}, v u, v, w ux, uy, uz U W x, y, z r, s, t E

matrix of shape functions derivatives damping matrix elasticity matrix strain vector displacement vector/degree of freedom vector force vector hydraulic head vector* identity matrix stiffness matrix/seepage matrix conductivity (permeability) matrix mass matrix shape function matrix null matrix external load vector stress vector temperature vector* seepage velocity vector displacement vector components virtual internal work virtual external work global coordinates normalized coordinates Youngs modulus Poissons ratio

* Although temperature and water head are scalars, a set of values can be grouped into a vector
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