Finite Element Method

Theory and Application

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

HITEC University
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
(Gold Medalist)

Ph.D. (Composite Material Structures) :

University Paul Sabatier, France

M.S. (Composite Material Structures) :

University Paul Sabatier, France

B.E (Mechanical) :
NED University of Engineering Technology, Pakistan
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Reference Books

MATLAB Guide to Finite Elements

By Peter Kattan
Finite Element Method (Basic Concept and Application)
By Chennakesava R. Alavala
Finite Element Method with Application in Engineering
By Y. M. Desai
Fundamental of Finite Element Analysis
By David V. Hutton
Numerical Methods for Engineers
By Steven C. Chapra
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Reference Book

MATLAB Guide to Finite Elements

By Peter Kattan

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Introduction

Mathematical Modeling

Algorithm Design

Approximation and Errors

Matrix Algebra

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
One of the most important things for engineers and scientists do
is to model physical phenomena.

Virtually every phenomena in nature, whether aerospace,

biological, chemical, geological or mechanical can be described,
with the aid of physics, or other fields in terms of algebraic,
differential, and/or integral equations relating various quantities
of interest .
Mathematical Model
Analytical description of a physical phenomena and processes are
called mathematical model.
A set of equations that expresses the essential features of a
physical systems in terms of variables that describe Dr.
theS. system.
Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Numerical Simulation
The use of Numerical Method and a computer to evaluate the
mathematical model of a process and estimate its characteristics
is called a Numerical Simulation.
Finite Element Method basically a Numerical Simulation of
physical Phenomena.

Why Numerical Simulation?

Most practical problems involve complicated domains (both

geometry and material), loads and nonlinearities that forbid the
development of analytical solution. So, only alternative is to find
out approximate solutions by Numerical Methods.
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Requires understanding of engineering systems

By observation and experiment

Theoretical analysis and generalization

Computers are great tools, however, without fundamental

understanding of engineering problems, they will be useless.

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving
A mathematical model is represented as a functional
relationship of the form
Independen t , parameters, forcing fu nctions
Dependent Variable f
Variables

Dependent variable: Characteristic that usually reflects the state

of the system
Independent variables: Dimensions such as time and space
along which the systems behavior is
being determined
Parameters: reflect the systems properties or composition
Forcing functions: external influences acting upon the system

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving
Exercise
Determine the mathematical model, i.e., governing
equation of a free-falling body.

Model: Falling parachutist (Free falling body)

Determine the terminal velocity (v) at any time t

Terminal Velocity (v) f (t )

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Newtons 2nd law of Motion

the time rate of change of momentum of a body is equal to
the resulting force acting on it.
The model is formulated as;

F=ma

F = net force acting on the body (N)

m = mass of the object (kg)
a = its acceleration (m/s2)
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Dependent Forcing
Variable F=ma function

a=F/m
A parameter

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Newtons 2nd law of Motion

F=ma

F
a
m
dv F
(A)
dt m

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

F Fd + Fg
Forces

Fg mg
Fd cv
Now,
dv mg cv
(A)
dt m

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

dv c
g v (B)
dt m
If the parachutist is initially at rest (v = 0 at t = 0), using calculus

Dependent Independent
Variable Variable

(B) v(t )
gm
c
1 e
( c / m )t

Parameters
Forcing
Function
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving
Analytical Solution
m = 68.1 kg

c = 12.5 kg/sec
Gives,

v(t )
gm
c

1 e ( c / m )t

v(t ) 53.39 1 e 0.18355t

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Analytical Solution
v(t ) 53.39 1 e 0.18355t
t v(t)
0 0 50
45
2 16.4 40
4 27.77 35
30
6 35.64
v

25
20
8 41.1 15
10
10 44.87 5
0
12 47.49 0 5 10 15
53.39 t

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Numerical Differentiation
Approximated y f (x)

Real

y y( xi + x) y ( xi ) dy y( xi + x) y( xi )
x lim 0
x x dx x

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Numerical Differentiation
Let f ( x) ln x and f ' (1.8) ?
The exact value of f 1.8 0.5556
Find an approximate value for f 1.8

f (1.8 + h) f (1.8)
h f (1.8) f (1.8 + h)
h
0.1 0.5877867 0.6418539 0.5406720
0.01 0.5877867 0.5933268 0.5540100
0.001 0.5877867 0.5883421 0.5554000
Assignment 2.5 Write a Matlab code for Numerical Differentiation
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Numerical Solution
dv c
g v
dt m
By the definition of Differentiation

d (ti +1 ) (ti )

dt t (ti +1 ti )

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving
Numerical Solution
dv v v(ti +1 ) v(ti )

dt t (ti +1 ti )

v(ti +1 ) v(ti ) c
g v(ti )
(ti +1 ti ) m

c
v(ti +1 ) v(ti ) + g v(ti )(ti +1 ti )
m

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Numerical Solution

c
v(ti +1 ) v(ti ) + g v(ti )(ti +1 ti )
m
At t = 0 => v = 0 (boundary condition)
ti+1= 2 sec
12.5
v(2) 0 + 9.8 (0) (2)
68.1
v 19.60
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Mathematical Modeling
Engineering Problem solving

Numerical Solution c
v(ti +1 ) v(ti ) + g v(ti )(ti +1 ti )
m
t v(t)
0 0 60

2 19.6 50

40
4 32.00
v

30
6 39.85
20
8 44.82
10 Analytical
10 47.97
0
12 49.96 0 5 10 15

53.39 t

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Assignment-FEM-1.1

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Assignment-FEM-2.1
Write a code to evaluate area of a circle by a triangular element
approximation. Display results with increasing N Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Basic Concept :
Any continuous solution field such as stress, displacement, temperature,
pressure, etc. can be approximated by a discrete model composed of a set of
piecewise continuous functions defined over a finite number of sub-
domains.

T T

Approximate
Exact Analytical Piecewise Linear
Solution Solution

x x

One-Dimensional Temperature Distribution

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 T
Discretization FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Concepts
Exact Temperature Distribution, T(x)

Finite Element Discretization

Linear Interpolation Model Quadratic Interpolation Model
T1 (Four Elements) T (Two Elements)
1
T2
T2 T2
T3 T3 T3
T4 T4 T3
T4 T5
T5

T T
T1 T1
T2 T2
T3 T3
T4 T5 T4 T5

x x
Piecewise Linear Approximation Piecewise Quadratic Approximation
Temperature Continuous but with Temperature and Temperature Gradients
Discontinuous Temperature Gradients Continuous
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The Role of FEM in Numerical Simulations

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Introduction

Mathematical Modeling

Algorithm Design

Approximation and Errors

Matrix Algebra

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Algorithm

An Algorithm is the sequence of logical steps required to

perform a specific task such as solving a problem.

Each step must be deterministic; that is, nothing can be left

to chance.

The process must always end after a finite number of steps.

An Algorithm can not be open ended.

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Flow Chart

It is a visual or graphical representation of an algorithm.

Start or end of program

Flow of logic

Process

Input/Output

Decision

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Example Begin

Input

Process

Condition
False
True

Output

End
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Assignment-FEM-2.2

Write an algorithm to find out Terminal velocity of a parachutist by

following relation, for a given step size of time.

c
v(ti +1 ) v(ti ) + g v(ti )(ti +1 ti )
m

At t=0 => v=0 (boundary condition)

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Introduction

Mathematical Modeling

Algorithm Design

Approximation and Errors

Matrix Algebra

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Approximations and Errors

For many engineering problems, we cannot obtain

analytical solutions.
Numerical methods yield approximate results, results that
are close to the exact analytical solution.
How confident we are in our approximate result?

The question is how much error is present in our calculation

and is it tolerable?
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Accuracy
How close is a computed or measured value to the
true value.

Precision
How close is a computed or measured value to
previously computed or measured values.

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Accuracy/Precesion

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Error Definitions

True Value = Approximation + Error

Et = True value Approximation (+/-)

True error
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Error Definitions

No Account of order of magnitude

Et = True value Approximation (+/-)

Example
Rivet Bridge

True Value 10 cm 10,000 cm

Approx. Value 9 cm 9,999 cm
Et 1 cm 1 cm
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Error Definitions

true error
True fractional relative error
true value

true error
True percent relative error, t 100%
true value

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Error Definitions
true error
True percent relative error, t 100%
true value
Example
Rivet Bridge

True Value 10 cm 10,000 cm

Approx. Value 9 cm 9,999 cm
True Error Et = 1 cm 1 cm

1 1
True percent relative error t 100% t 100%
10 10000

t 10% t 0.01%

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Error Definitions
For numerical methods, the true value will be known only when we deal
with functions that can be solved analytically (simple systems). In real
world applications, we usually not know the answer a priori. Then

a Approximate error 100%

Approximation

Iterative approach (+ / -)

Current approximation - Previous approximation

a 100%
Current approximation

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Error Definitions
Computations are repeated until stopping criterion is satisfied.

a s Pre-specified % tolerance
based on the knowledge of
your solution
If the following criterion is met

s (0.5 10 (2- n)
)%

you can be sure that the result is correct to at least n significant

figures.
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
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Error Estimation
Assignment 2.3
Mathematical functions can be represented by infinite series

2 3 n
x x x
e x 1 + x + + + ............ +
2! 3! n!

Find e0.5 (upto 3 significant digits)

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

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Error Estimation
Assignment 2.4
Maclaurin Series expansion of Sin(x)

x3 x5 x7
Sin ( x) x + + ...............
3! 5! 7!

Find Sin(pi/2) (upto 4 significant figuers)

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

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Introduction

Mathematical Modeling

Algorithm Design

Approximation and Errors

Matrix Algebra

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq

 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Matrix Algebra
Matrix Definition
Order of a Matrix
Rectangular/Square/Row/Column Matrix
Operations:
Addition/Subtraction
Scalar Multiplication
Multiplication
Transpose/Symmetric
Unit Matrix, Inverse Matrix
Orthogonal Matrix, Transformation Matrix
Simultaneous Linear Equations
Dr. S. Kamran Afaq
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Thank you

Dr. S. Kamran Afaq