Introduce to FEM-3

Truss Problem.
Instructor: Dr. Farid Amirouche

For the truss shown in the above figure, we assume that all truss elements have the same material
properties E and cross-section area A given by
E 29.5 105 psi,
A 1.0 in 2

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Label the truss.

Derive all the joint/elements tables.
Derive the stiffness matrices for all elements.
Derive the global stiffness matrix
Find the solution of the above truss problem.

Solution:
1 The labeling of the truss is shown below: keep in mind that this labeling is not unique and
hence one need to label the truss in a manner that is acceptable, easy to read and computer
efficient. We need to label both the elements as well as the joints (nodes).

2 Tables to generate the elements /joints relationships

Table 1 Truss-Joint/Matrix-Column Matrix

Joint
1
2
3
4

Column
1
3
5
7

Numbers
2
4
6
8

Table 2 Elements vs Joint Numbers

Truss element e
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

N1
1
2
2
4

N2
2
4
3
3

Table 3 Truss Elements vs kij

i,j from
kije
1
2
3
4

Truss Element E
[1]
1
2
3
4

[2]
3
4
7
8

[3]
3
4
5
6

[4]
5
6
7
8

3 The element stiffness matrices for each truss element are obtained as follows:
[1]
For truss element [1], we have 0 . Therefore, kij is given by

kij[1]

0 1 0
0 0 0 1 29.5 105

0 1 0
36

0 0 0

AE 0

L 1

1
0

0 1 0
1

0
0 0 0
8.19 104
1
0 1 0

0 0 0
0

0 1 0
0 0 0
0 1 0

0 0 0

Similarly, we have

kij[2]

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

AE 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1 29.5 105

L 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

36 2

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

kij[3]

0 0

AE 0 1

L 0 0

0 1

kij[4]

AE 0

L 1

0
0 1 1 29.5 105

0 0
36

0 1
0

0 1 0
0 0 0 1 29.5 105

0 1 0
36

0 0 0

0 0
0 1

0 0

0 1

1
0

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

5.79 104 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 , 45

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

0
0 0

0 1
0 1
8.19 104
0 0
0 0

0 1
0 1
0

0 1 0
1
0
0 0 0
8.19 104
1
0 1 0

0 0 0
0

0
0 1
, 90
0 0

0 1
0

0 1 0
0 0 0
, 0
0 1 0

0 0 0

3 The global matrices are obtained using table 3 where it indicated which columns and rows are
needed for the contribution of the local stiffness to the global stiffness matrix.
For truss element [1], its contribution to the global stiffness is given by
K111
1
K 21
1
K 31
1
K
K 1 41
0

0
0

K121

K131

K141

1
22
1
32
1
42

1
23
1
33
1
43

1
24
1
34
1
44

K
K
K

K
K
K

K
K
K

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0

Note how we used the number below element 1 in table 3 (1,2,3,4) which indicate columns and rows
1,2,3,and 4 are needed for element 1.

Similarly, for element 2 gathering the information from table 3 we see that we can write element
2 contributions as follows.
0
0

0
2
K
0

0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
K 332
K 432
0
0
K 732
K832

0
0
K 342
K 442
0
0
K 742
K842

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
K 382
2
K 48

0
K 782

K882

0
0
K 372
2
K 47
0
0
K 772
K872

Element 3and 4 are then found to be

0
0

0
K3
0

0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
K 333
3
K 43
K 533
3
K 63

0
0
K 343
3
K 44
K 543
3
K 64

0
0
K 353
3
K 45
K 553
3
K 65

0
0
K 363
3
K 46
K 563
3
K 66

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
4
K
0

0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
K 554
K 654
K 754
K854

0
0
0
0
K 564
K 664
K 764
K864

0
0
0
0
K 574
K 674
K 774
K874

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0

0
0 0

0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0

0
K 584

K 684
K 784

K884

Therefore, the global stiffness is found by adding the above 3 matrices resulting in.

K K1 K 2 K 3 K 4
K111
1
K 21
1
K 31
1
K
41
0

0
0

0
0
0

0
0

K121
1
K 22

K131
1
K 23

K141
1
K 24

1
K 32

1
K 33

1
K 34

1
K 42

1
K 43

1
K 44

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0 K
0 K
0 K

0
0

3
33
3
43
3
53
3
63

K
K
K

0 K
0 0
0

K111
1
K 21
1
K 31
1
K
41
0

0
0

3
34
3
44
3
54
3
64

0
0
K
K
K

3
35
3
45
3
55
3
65

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0
0
0
K
K
K

3
36
3
46
3
56
3
66

K
0

K
0

K
0

0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0
0 0 0

0 0 0

K121

K131

K141

1
22
1
32
1
42

1
23
2
33
2
43
3
53
3
63
2
73
2
83

1
24
2
34
2
44
3
54
3
64
2
74
2
84

K
K
K

1
K 33
K K 333
1
3
K 43
K K 43

0 0

0 0

0 K 332

K 342

0 0 K 372

0 K 432

K 442

0 0 K 472

0
0

K
K
K

0
0

0 0
0 0

0
0

0 K 732

K 742

0 0 K 772

0 K832

K842

0 0 K872

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0 0
0 0 0 K 554

0
K 564

0
K 574

0 0 0 K 654

K 664

K 674

4
75
4
85

4
76
4
86

K 774

0 0 0 K
0 0 0 K

K
K

1
K 34
K K 343
1
3
K 44
K K 44

0
0

K874

0
0
K 382

K 482
0

0
K 782

K882
0
0
0

0
K 584

K 684
K 784

K884
0

K 353
3
K 45

K 363
3
K 46

K 372
K 472

K 553 K 554

K 563 K 564

K 574

K K

K K

K 674

3
65

4
65

3
66

4
66

K 754

K 764

K 772 K 774

K 854

K864

K872 K874

K 382

2
K 48

K 584

4
K 68
K 782 K 784
K882 K884
0

5. Solution:
For the whole truss system, we write the equation relating the global forces and displacements:
[ F ] [ K ][U ]

F1x

Where

[F ]

U1x

F1 y

U1 y

F2 x

U2x

F2 y
F3 x

and

[U ]

U2y
U3x

F3 y

U3y

F4 x

U4x

F4 y

U4y

For the given truss, the boundary conditions are simply the given information about both the
external forces and displacements:

F1x
F1 y
F2 x

R1x
R1 y
Px

R1x
R1 y
1500 cos

6
F2 y
Py

[F ]

1500 sin
F3 x
6
0
0
F3 y
R3 y
R3 y
F4 x
0
0
F4 y
0

and

[U ]

U1 x

U1 y

U2x

U2x

U2y

U2y

U3x
U3y

U3x

U4x

U4x

U4y

U4y

Therefore, the resulting equations for the truss force/displacement are

R1x
R1 y
1500 cos
1500 sin
0
R3 y
0
0

8.19
0

8.19

0
0

0 8.19
0
0
0 11.085
0
0
0
0
0

0
0 0
0
0 0
2.895 2.895 U 2 x

2.895 11.085
0
8.19 2.895 2.895 U 2 y
104
0
0
8.19
0
8.19
0 U3x

0
8.19
0
8.19
0
0 0
2.895 2.895 8.19
0
11.085 2.895 U 4 x

2.895 2.895
0
0
2.895 2.895 U 4 y
0
0
2.895

0
0
0

0
0
0

Since we have 8 unknown variables (3 reaction forces and 5 displacements) and 8 equations, the
linear equation [ F ] [ K ][U ] is solvable. Eliminating the reaction forces equations will allow us
to obtain 5 equations with 5 displacements as unknowns. We solve for the displacements using
standard rules such as cramers method or inverse of the matrix method, the reaction forces will
then be obtained by simply multiplying the appropriate rows with the displacement array. The
final solution is provided below.

U1x

U1 y

U2x

0.0148

U4y

0.0256

R1x
0.1212
U2y
0.0086

R1 y
0
104 ; [U ]
U 3x
0.0047
R3 y
0.0704
U3y
0
U4x
0.0052