Convergence of Calculations for the Finite Element

Models with Multiple Connector Elements

Liping Wu
The Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Ume University, SE 901 87 Ume, Sweden
Abstract: The calculation of the load carrying capacity of a structure can be very complex as a structural
model consists of several parts connected by multi connector elements. Especially, the calculation includes
determinations of the relative sliding of contacting surfaces. This paper presents the results of nonlinear
analyses and simulations of such structures through nonlinear finite element models. Convergent forcedeformation curves have been obtained. The model can be used to predict the ultimate load carrying
capacity and to show nonlinear structural behavior not only in up loading phase, but in unloading phase as
well. Besides for different loading and boundary conditions, the model can be used for analyzing structures
with different connector behavior and connector spacing. There are good agreements between the
numerical computations and the experimental results.

1. Introduction
There are many different applications of the nails that secure sheathing to framing in a wood structure. The
connectors play a very important role in determining the capacity of the structure to certain extent since
they account for the transfer of the lateral force from the sheathing to the framing and vice versa depending
on the occurrence of the sheathed diaphragm. The previous research efforts have primarily concentrated on
modeling the overall behavior of a structure, but oversimplified for dealing with the connectors because the
nonlinear load slip characteristics of the nails fasteners are hardly to be described into a model. Finding a
proper model for such connectors to perform the nonlinear analyses is significant. In the following sections,
the nonlinear models with the comparisons to experiments are described.
1.1

Background

A mechanical connector securing a plate to a piece of wood, in this case as a nail, is shown in Figure 1. The
connector will deform and adopt a shape w(x) under the force F, the x axis is along the nail shank. The
load-slip characteristic of the nail is defined as the relationship, usually nonlinear, between the force
applied to the head of the nail through the plate when the nail is driven into the plate and the wood. As the
deformation of the nail growing, there is a reaction p from the wood and plate medium, especially when the
plate has high strength and thick, which is assumed to be a function p(w). The p(w) refers to as
embedment property of the surrounding medium. The plate and the wood fail in bearing along the nail
shank, and crash develops. Meantime, yielding of the nail in bending occurs in some cross sections, and
after some load the nail is permanently deformed. As the deformation of the nail reaches a critical point, the
nail starts withdrawing out from the wood medium.

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The capacity and the nonlinear behavior of the nail joint, determined by the three different materials having
nonlinear properties, are very difficult to formulate. Analytical research efforts have primarily concentrated
on finding models to describe the nonlinear response of the joint under the force F. One typical approach to
solve the problem is finding a minimum potential energy based on the assumptions of the nail and the
embedment nonlinear properties. By the principle of virtual work, the functional (w) can be defined as,

(w) = U n + U m U e
where U n denotes the inter work of the nail defined by nail property; Um is the inter work of the timber
and the plate, defined by the embedment property; U e = F is the external work due to a virtual
deformation at the head of the nail.
The variation of the functional (w) can be expressed as

= (U n + U m U e ) = 0
If the internal work U n and U m are determined by the assumptions, as the embedment property can not
be formulized, then the functional (w) is stationary for the displacement function w which corresponds
to the equilibrium condition of the nail under the applied loads. The approach can be used to determine
approximate solutions to the problem using a finite element method.
Empirical models are commonly used in the study of this type of connection problem and are constructed
by specifying a set of rules for loading and unloading paths. These rules usually involve a set of parameters
that are calibrated to an observed experimental response for a given load or displacement history. It is not
possible to develop a unique finite element model to describe the nonlinear behavior of this type of nail
joints since there are some uncertain parameters and material properties involved in the loading and
unloading process.
For wood-frame diaphragms with sheathing attached by discrete fasteners, the overall behavior and the
entire strength of the whole diaphragm are the main analyzing purpose. Some previous research results
showed that the single line fasteners could be used to predict the displacement of the sheathed wood-frame
diaphragm.
This paper presents the reliability and possibility of performing the nonlinear responses of the fasteners by
using two dimension connector elements existing in ABAQUS element library. The results show that the
nonlinear load-slip characteristics of a fastener can be performed by a nonlinear connector element. Some
comparisons of experiment results and nonlinear finite element analyses are also presented.

2. Finite element analyses

2.1

The finite element model for the single nail fastener

The finite element model developed in the following formulation represents a single nail joint, in which the
connector element accounts for a nail fastener connecting a sheathing plate and a wood. The connector
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element also can be referred to as a transfer element since it plays the role of transfer of lateral force
through the fastener from the sheathing to the wood and vice versa. The load slip characteristic of the
transfer element represents the nonlinear stiffness of an individual fastener, which is determined by
experimental tests of single nail joints. Linking of the connector element with plane stress orthotropic
elements and plane stress isotropic elements, which are used to model the wood and the sheathing plate,
respectively, allows analysis of a single nail joint subjecting to lateral force.
The connector element acts between two nodes and can be associated with displacement or with rotational
degrees of freedom. If the relative displacement is measured along the direction of the element in the
reference configuration, it can be expressed in the following expression.

u =

(X

(X
1

1
2

) ( X

)
1

u1 u 2

X 1 is the reference position of the first node of the element and X 2 is the reference position of its
1
2
second node; u and u denote the displacement between the two nodes in the local system.
where

Two-dimensional finite element models and their performance are described in the section2.2. In the
analysis process, it is very obvious that the model including the connector element performs the process of
a single nail joint test realistically; however, there are some problems to get the convergence result, which
should be overcome. The convergence problems will be discussed in detail in the section 3.
2.2

A comparison of the results between the experimental tests and the finite element
analyses

The configurations of the two different types of tests are shown in Figure 2. The fasteners subjecting a
force parallel to the wood grain and a force perpendicular to the wood grain are represented in Figure 2 (a)
and Figure 2 (b), respectively. These test configurations are used to determine the load slip characteristics
of a single fastener in two main directions since wood is a kind of orthotropic material.
The finite element models based on the description mentioned in the section 2.1 are shown in Figure 3. For
each model in Figure 3, a single connector element connects plane stress orthotropic elements and plane
stress isotropic elements, which represent the wood and the fiberboard plate, respectively. A comparison
between the results from the tests and the solutions from the nonlinear finite element analyses is presented
in Figure 4. It is obvious that the two-dimensional nonlinear finite element model can be used to predict the
load displacement characteristic of a single nail joint. The comparison also indicates that the connector
element can perform the nonlinear behavior of a fastener although there is not a detail about real
embedment deformation procedure.
2.3

An application with discrete connector elements

A wood diaphragm consists of three basic components: frame members (studs), sheathing (plywood,
fiberboard, particleboard or gypsumboard), and fasteners (nails, staples or screws). The sheathing is
connected to the frame by fasteners with a regular spacing. A typically constructed wood diaphragm is
shown in Figure 5. The finite element model developed in the following description represents such wood
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diaphragms. In the two-dimensional model, connector elements are still employed as the discrete nail
fasteners, linking of plane stress orthotropic elements and plane stress isotropic elements. The connector
element adopts the nonlinear property from experimental as shown in Figure 4. The magnitude of the
displacement in each connector element depends on the relative displacement of the frame element and the
sheathing element, which the connector element is attached. The analysis results are shown in Figure 6, in
which an undeformed model and a deformed shape are shown.

3. Convergence discussion
The previous research efforts have not shown the results of nonlinear finite element analyses in both
uploading and unloading phases when a single fastener or a wood diaphragm are loaded by a monotonic
load. Most of the developed models can be used to predict the maximum load carrying capacity and
perform the behavior in uploading phase, but the unloading phase.
The nonlinear load-displacement solutions for a single nail fastener or for a sheathed wood diaphragm are
shown in Figure 4 or Figure 6. The objective of the nonlinear analyses is to determine the nonlinear
responses of the system for each loading increment. The solution is found by specifying the loading as a
function of time and incrementing time in ABAQUS. Usually, finding a converged solution in each time
increment needs several iterations depending on the degree of nonlinearity in the system. For models
containing multi discrete nonlinear connector elements, such as the sheathed wood-frame diaphragm, the
degree of nonlinearity is high, hence the number of iterations is big; or the converged solution cannot be
achieved sometimes; or in some cases the solution is accepted as converged, but there is a danger of the
result being not sufficient to close to the exact solution.
Normally, for solving the nonlinear models with connector elements, lack of convergence is often due to
modeling issues, which should be resolved in the first priority. Creating a good model is the base of
achieving an accurate solution. There are some sensitive factors effecting to get a converged result for this
type of connection problems, such as, the position of each nail fastener, the types of connector elements
and the size of elements for the sheathing and for the framing. For example, in the determinations of a
single nail fastener and a single panel diaphragm behavior, two types of connector elements are used, one is
spring element and another is connector element (Axial). From the comparisons shown in Figure 7, it is
obvious that the spring element can give better solution than the connector element (Axial) in these
applications.
The problems often occurring in the nonlinear analyses for models with multiple discrete connector
elements are that the computational results sometime are obtained, but the deformation patterns of the
models are different from the prediction by the theory and the results from the experimental tests. It means
that the numerical computation perhaps steps into a wrong path. Therefore, the solution is not approximate
close to the exact solution. The phenomena are mainly caused by the incontinuous stiffness of the discrete
connector elements in the model. To overcome the problem, a useful method is adjusting the initial
increment size, so that a highly nonlinear problem can become a mildly nonlinear problem.
Adjusting of the convergence criteria, such as: the residual control, the solution correction control and so
on, sometimes helps to find a converged solution when the divergent occurs in the post loading phase, but
there is always a risk of changing the accuracy controls. It is not recommended to change control
parameters for obtaining a converged solution.
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4. Conclusions
The two-dimensional connector element can be used to predict the load slip characteristic of a single nail
fastener. It performs the visible deformation of the single nail fastener realistically. The connector element
can be applied to a sheathed wood diaphragm as well. The model can be used to predict the ultimate load
carrying capacity and to show nonlinear structural behavior not only in up loading phase, but in unloading
phase as well. For getting the convergence solution, several approaches have been studied. So the nonlinear
finite element models presented in the paper are applicable and reliable for the sheathed wood diaphragms.

5. References
1. Chui, Y. H., Ni, C. and Jiang, Lei, Finite-Element Model For Nailed Wood Joints Under Reversed
Cyclic Load, Journal of the Structural Division, American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 124, pp.
96-103, 1998.
2. Falk, R. H., and Itani, R. Y., Finite Element Modeling of Wood Diaphragms, Journal of the
Structural Division, American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 115, pp. 543-559, 1988.
3. Foschi, R. O., Load-Slip Characteristics of Nails, Wood Since, Canada, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 69-76,
1974.
4. Foschi, R. O. and Bonac T. Load-Slip Characteristics for Connections With Common Nails, Wood
Since, Canada, Vol. 9,No. 3, pp. 118-123, 1976.
5. Johnson, C., Numerical Solutions of Partial Differential Equations by the Finite Element Method.
ISBN 91-44-25241-1, Studentlitteratur, 1987.

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6. Figures

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(a)

(b)

Figure 3. Single nail fastener behavior; (a) shows the force parallel to the wood grain; (b)
shows the force perpendicular to the grain.

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16 0 0

Load versus displacem ent (Load

perpendicular to the grain of the
w ood)

Load cersus displacem ent (Load

parallel to the w ood grain)
150 0

14 0 0

10 0 0

Load (N)

Load (N)

12 0 0

800
600

Test

50 0

ABAQUS

400

10 0 0

Tes t
ABAQUS

200
0

0
0

10

Displacem ent (m m )

15

10

15

20

Displacem ent (m m )

Figure 4. Comparisons of the results from test and from ABAQUS analyses.

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Plane stress
element
(Frame)

Connector
element

Plane stress
element
(Sheathing)

Figure 5. A sheathed wood diaphragm and its finite element model

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Figure 6. The results from finite element analysis and a comparison of the load versus
displacement curves from the test and from the ABAQUS computation are shown.

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One panel diaphragm

A single fastener
1600
1400

30

1000

Load (kN)

Load (N)

1200

800
600

20

10

Test

Spring element

Spring element
Axial connector

400

Axial connectors
Test

200
0
0

0
0

10

Displacement (mm)

12

14

10

20

30

40

50

Displacement (mm)

Figure 7. Comparison of convergence for different types of connector elements

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7. Acknowledgment
The writers acknowledge Dr. Ulf Arne Girhamma, Dr. Bo Ksller and Dr. Annika Mostrm for their advice
and helpful suggestions. We greatly thank Mr. Fredrik Hggstrm and Mr. Martin Forsgren for their
excellent help with the experiments.

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