MANE 4240 & CIVL 4240

Introduction to Finite Elements

Prof. Suvranu De

Higher order elements

Reading assignment:

Lecture notes

Summary:

• Properties of shape functions

• Higher order elements in 1D
• Higher order triangular elements (using area coordinates)
• Higher order rectangular elements
Lagrange family
Serendipity family
Recall that the finite element shape functions need to satisfy the
following properties

1. Kronecker delta property

 1 at node i
Ni  
0 at all other nodes
Inside an element
u  N 1u1  N 2 u 2  ...
At node 1, N1=1, N2=N3=…=0, hence

u node 1  u1

Facilitates the imposition of boundary conditions

2. Polynomial completeness

If u  1   2 x   3 y
Then
N
i
i 1

N x
i
i i x

N y
i
i i y
Higher order elements in 1D

2-noded (linear) element:

x  x2
N1 
x1 x2 x1  x 2
x x  x1
N2 
1 2 x 2  x1

In “local” coordinate system (shifted to center of element)

ax
N1 
x 2a
ax
1 2 N2 
a a 2a
3-noded (quadratic) element:  x  x2  x  x3 
N1 
x1 x3 x2  x1  x2  x1  x3 
x  x  x1  x  x3 
N2 
1 3 2  x2  x1  x 2  x3 
N3 
 x  x1  x  x2 
 x3  x1  x3  x 2 
In “local” coordinate system (shifted to center of element)
x1  a ; x 2  0 ; x3  a
x
x a  x 
N1  
1 3 2 2a 2
a a x a  x 
N2 
2a 2
a2  x2
N3 
a2
  x  x2  x  x3  x  x4 
N1 
4-noded (cubic) element:  x1  x2  x1  x3  x1  x4 
 x  x1  x  x3  x  x4 
N2 
x1 x3 x4 x2  x2  x1  x2  x3  x 2  x4 
x
N 
 x  x1  x  x 2  x  x 4 
1 3 4 2 3
 x3  x1  x3  x2  x3  x 4 
 x  x1  x  x2  x  x3 
N4 
 x4  x1  x4  x2  x 4  x3 
In “local” coordinate system (shifted to center of element)
9
N1   ( x  a )( x  a / 3)( x  a / 3)
2a/3 2a/3 2a/3 x 16a 3

9
N2  ( x  a )( x  a / 3)( x  a / 3)
1 3 4 2 16a 3
a a
27
N3  3
(a  x)(a / 3  x)(a  x)
16a
27
N4   3
( x  a )( x  a / 3)( x  a / 3)
16a
Polynomial completeness

1 Convergence
rate (displacement)
x 2 node; k=1; p=2
x2
3 node; k=2; p=3
x3
4 node; k=3;
x4 p=4

Recall that the convergence in displacements
u  uh 0
 Ch p ; p  k  1
k=order of complete polynomial
Triangular elements

Area coordinates (L1, L2, L3)

1
Total area of the triangle A=A1+A2+A3

y P A2 At any point P(x,y) inside

A3 the triangle, we define
A1 A1
3 L1 
A
2 A2
L2 
A
x
A3
L3 
A
Note: Only 2 of the three area coordinates are independent, since
L1+L2+L3=1
 ai  bi x  ci y
Li 
2A

1 x 1 y1 
1
A  area of triangle  det 1 x 2 y 2 
2
1 x 3 y 3 
a1  x 2 y 3  x3 y 2 b1  y 2  y 3 c1  x3  x 2
a 2  x3 y1  x1 y 3 b2  y 3  y1 c 2  x1  x3
a3  x1 y 2  x 2 y1 b3  y1  y 2 c3  x 2  x1
Check that

L1  L2  L3  1
L1 x1  L2 x2  L3 x3  x
L1 y1  L2 y 2  L3 y3  y
 1
L1= constant
P’
y P
A1
3
2
x

Lines parallel to the base of the triangle are lines of constant ‘L’
 L1= 1
1

y P L1= 0
A1
3
2 L2= 0
L3= 1
x
L2= 1
L3= 0

We will develop the shape functions of triangular elements in

terms of the area coordinates
For a 3-noded triangle

N1  L1
N 2  L2
N 3  L3
 For a 6-noded triangle

L2= 0 L1= 1
1
L2= 1/2 L1= 1/2
6
4
y L1= 0
L2= 1
3
5
2
x
L3= 0 L3= 1/2 L3= 1
How to write down the expression for N1?
Realize the N1 must be zero along edge 2-3 (i.e., L1=0) and at
nodes 4&6 (which lie on L1=1/2)
N1  c  L1  0  L1  1 / 2 
Determine the constant ‘c’ from the condition that N1=1 at
node 1 (i.e., L1=1)
N1 ( at L1  1)  c11  1 / 2   1
c2
 N1  2 L1  L1  1 / 2 
N1  2 L1 ( L1  1 / 2)
N 2  2 L2 ( L2  1 / 2)
N 3  2 L3 ( L3  1 / 2)
N 4  4 L1 L2
N 5  4 L3 L2
N 6  4 L3 L1
 For a 10-noded triangle

L2= 0 L1= 1
L2= 1/3 1 L1= 2/3
9
L2= 2/3 4 L1= 1/3
8
y 10 L1= 0
L2= 1 5
3
7
2 6
x
L3= 0 L3= 1/3 L3= 2/3 L3= 1
 9
N1  L1 ( L1  1 / 3)( L1  2 / 3)
2
9
N2  L2 ( L2  1 / 3)( L2  2 / 3)
2
9
N3  L3 ( L3  1 / 3)( L3  2 / 3)
2
27
N4  L1 L2 ( L1  1 / 3)
2
27
N5  L1 L2 ( L2  1 / 3)
2
27
N6  L2 L3 ( L2  1 / 3)
2
27
N7  L2 L3 ( L3  1 / 3)
2
:
N 10  27 L1 L2 L3
 NOTES:
1. Polynomial completeness
1 Convergence
rate (displacement)
x y 3 node; k=1; p=2
x2 xy y2
6 node; k=2; p=3
x3 x2 y xy 2 y 3 10 node; k=3; p=4

2. Integration on triangular domain
k! m! n!

k m n
1. L1 L2 L3 dA  2 A
1
A (2  k  m  n)!
k! m!
2. 
k m
l1-2 L1 L2 dS  l1 2
1 2 edge (1  k  m)!
y

3
2
x
 3. Computation of derivatives of shape functions: use chain rule
e.g.,
N i N i L1 N i L2 N i L3
  
x L1 x L2 x L3 x
L1 b1 L2 b2 L3 b3
But  ;  ; 
x 2 A x 2 A x 2A

e.g., for the 6-noded triangle

N 4  4 L1 L2
N 4 b b
  4 L1 2  4 L2 1
x 2A 2A
Rectangular elements
Lagrange family
Serendipity family

Lagrange family

4-noded rectangle In local coordinate system

y
2 1 ( a  x )(b  y)
a a N1 
b 4ab
( a  x )(b  y)
x N2 
b 4ab
( a  x )(b  y)
3 4 N3 
4ab
( a  x )(b  y)
N4 
4ab
9-noded quadratic
Corner nodes
 x(a  x)   y (b  y )   x(a  x)   y (b  y ) 
y 5 N1  
 2 a 2 
 2 b 2 

N 2  


2a 2   2b 2 
2 a a 1  x(a  x)   y (b  y )   x(a  x)   y (b  y ) 
N 3       N     
b 2b 2 
2 2 4 2
 2 a  2b   2 a 
9 8
6 x
b Midside nodes
7  a 2  x 2   y (b  y )   x(a  x)   b  y 
2 2
3 4 N5     N 6    
 a 2
 2b 2
  2a 2   b 2 
 a 2  x 2   y (b  y )   x( a  x)   b  y 
2 2
N7      N8    
 2a   b
2 2 2 2
 a  2 b  

Center node
 a 2  x2   b2  y 2 
N9   2  2 
 a  b 
 NOTES:
1. Polynomial completeness
Convergence
1 rate (displacement)
x y 4 node; p=2
x2 xy y2 9 node; p=3
x3 x2 y xy 2 y 3
x4 x3 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

Lagrange shape functions contain higher order terms but miss

out lower order terms
Serendipity family

4-noded same as Lagrange

8-noded rectangle: how to generate the shape functions?
First generate the shape functions of the
y 5 midside nodes as appropriate products of
2 a a 1
1D shape functions, e.g.,
b
8
6 x N   a 2
 x 2
  (b  y )   ( a  x )   b 2
 y 2

5    ; N8     b 2 
b 7  a 2
  2b   2 a  
3 4 Then go to the corner nodes. At each corner
node, first assume a bilinear shape function as in
a 4-noded element and then modify:
ˆ (a  x)(b  y )
“bilinear” shape fn at node 1: N1  4ab
actual shape fn at node 1: ˆ N 5 N8
N1  N1  
2 2
8-noded rectangle
Midside nodes
y 5
2 a a 1  a 2  x 2   (b  y )   (a  x)   b  y 
2 2
N5     N6     b 2 
b  a 2
  2 b   2 a  
8
6 x  a 2  x 2   (b  y )   (a  x)   b  y 
2 2
N7     N8    
b  2a   b
2 2
7  a   2b  
3 4

Corner nodes

(a  x)(b  y ) N 5 N 8 (a  x)(b  y ) N 5 N 6
N1    N2   
4ab 2 2 4ab 2 2
(a  x)(b  y ) N 6 N 7 (a  x)(b  y ) N8 N 7
N3    N4   
4ab 2 2 4ab 2 2
 NOTES:
1. Polynomial completeness
Convergence
1 rate (displacement)
x y 4 node; p=2
x2 xy y2 8 node; p=3
x3 x2 y xy 2 y 3 12 node; p=4
x4 x3 y x 2 y 2 xy 3 y 4
5 4 3 2 2 3 4 5
16 node; p=4
x x y x y x y xy y

More even distribution of polynomial terms than Lagrange

shape functions but ‘p’ cannot exceed 4!