Professional Documents
Culture Documents
in Solving Statically
Determinate Truss
Problems Using FEA
and Matlab
JIAXIN ZHAO{
Department of Engineering, Indiana UniversityPurdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805
ABSTRACT: Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a very powerful tool that is used in virtually
every area in the field of Mechanical Engineering and many other disciplines. It is beneficial for
the mechanical engineering students to have exposure to this tool as early as possible and as
frequently as possible in their engineering education. The earliest time comes when the
students are taught the truss problems in Statics. However, the traditional finite element
formulation uses the displacement as the solution variable, and the deformation theory is
generally not covered in a traditional Statics course. In this article, a MATLAB computer model
of FEA solution for truss problems is presented. Finite element formulations for truss problems
with the solution variables being the forces inside the truss members and the reaction forces at
the fixed and sliding joints are presented step by step. The property of the final assembled
coefficient matrix, with the boundary conditions applied, determines the truss problem at hand
to be statically determinate or statically indeterminate. Using this approach, students in
sophomore Statics course can be taught the FEA methodology, without knowing the
deformation theory. The computer implementation using Matlab also strengthens the students
knowledge of the software that they learned in a freshman Computer Tools For Engineers class
and their programming skills. 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 17: 363371, 2009;
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20168
Keywords:
INTRODUCTION
{
Assistant Professor.
Correspondence to J. Zhao (zhaoj@ipfw.edu).
2009 Wiley Periodicals Inc.
364
ZHAO
365
Figure 1 (a) A simple truss structure layout and forces on the joints/nodes. (b) Notation and forces
on a truss member/element.
Joint 3:
F 3 cosy3 F 1 cosy1 Rsliding cosysliding p=2 0
F 3 sin y3 F 1 sin y1 Rsliding sinysliding p=2 0
cosy1
cosy2
6
7
6 siny1
7
siny2
0
0 1
0
6
7
2
3
6 0
7
cosy
cosy
0
0
0
6
7
6
7
2
3
6 0
7
siny
0
0
0
siny
6
7
3
6 cosy1
7
0
cosy
0
0
cosy
p=2
sliding
4
5
siny1
0
siny3 0 0 sinysliding p=2
|{z}
K
8
8
9
9
0
F1 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
F2 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
< F3 =
<F
=
applied cosyapplied
>
>
Fapplied sinyapplied >
> Rfixed;x >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
R
>
>
>
>
fixed;y
>
>
>
>
:
:
;
;
0
Rsliding
|{z}
|{z}
fFRg
9
8
Fiee ;x >
>
>
=
< F e >
9 8
9
8 e
F cosye >
cosye >
>
>
>
>
>
>
= <
=
< e
F sinye
sinye
e
ie ;y
Fe
fFg
e
e
e
e
Fje ;x >
F cosy >
cosy >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
; :
;
: F e ; :
F e sinye
sinye
je ;y
3
fFAg
366
ZHAO
9
0 >
>
>
0 >
>
>
3 =
cosy
3
F3
fFgG
siny3 >
>
>
>
>
3>
>
>
>
>
> cosy3 >
;
:
siny
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
6
The global reaction force vector for fixed joint(s)
can also be written including the force components on
all the nodes as:
9 8 9
8
8 9
1>
Rfixed;x >
0>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>0>
> >
>
> Rfixed;y >
>1>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
= < =
=
<
< >
0
0
0
Rfixed;x
R
fRfixed gG
0 >
0 > fixed;y
>0>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >
> >
>
>
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
0 >
0>
>0>
>
>
>
>
>
;
: >
; >
;
:
: >
0
0
0
7
where as node 1 is the fixed node and the positions
corresponding to force on nodes 2 and 3 are padded
fRsliding gG
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
0
0
0
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
R
cosy
p=2
sliding
>
> sliding
>
>
;
:
Rsliding sinysliding p=2
9
8
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
<
0
Rsliding
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> cosysliding p=2 >
;
:
sinysliding p=2
0
0
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
Fapplied cosyapplied
>
Fapplied sinyapplied >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
;
:
0
9
8
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
< cosy
applied
F
> applied
>
>
>
> sinyapplied >
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
;
:
0
fFapplied gG
3
2
siny
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
cosy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
cosy3 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
cosy1 >
0 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
;
;
:
:
:
siny3
0
siny1
8 9
8 9
1>
0>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0>
1>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
=
<0>
<0>
Rfixed;x
Rfixed;y
>
>
0>
>
>
>0>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>0>
>
0>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
: ;
: >
0
0
9
8
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
<
0
Rsliding
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
cosysliding p=2 >
>
>
>
>
;
:
sinysliding p=2
9
8
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
< cosy
applied
Fapplied 0
>
sinyapplied >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
>
>
>
>
;
:
0
11
3
cosy1
cosy2
0
1 0
0
6
7
6 siny1
7
siny2
0
0 1
0
6
7
2
3
6 0
7
cosy
0
0
0
cosy
6
7
6
7
2
3
6 0
7
siny
0
0
0
siny
6
7
6 cosy1
7
3
0
cosy
0
0
cosy
p=2
4
5
sliding
0
siny3 0 0 sinysliding p=2
siny1
|{z}
fFg1G fFg2G fFg3G fRfixed gG fRsliding gG
9
9
8
8
0
F1 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
F2 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
<
3 =
cosyapplied =
F
F
>
> applied
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Rfixed;x >
> sinyapplied >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
0
Rfixed;y >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
;
:
:
0
Rsliding
|{z}
|{z}
fFRg
367
fFapplied gG
STATIC DETERMINACY
The above FEA formulation can be applied to any
truss problem with any number of members or joints.
Note that there are Nunk Nelem 2Nfixed Nsliding
unknowns in the unknown force vector. The number
of equations we have is Neq 2Nnode due to both the x
and the y components of the force balance on each
node. Neq and Nunk are then the number of rows and
the number of columns for the coefficient matrix [K],
respectively. Now from the knowledge of linear
algebra, it can be determined that:
12
8
Neq > Nunk
>
>
which is exactly the same as Equation (1) from the
<
Neq Nunk and jKj 6 0
direct linear algebra formulation. A close examination
then
if
Neq Nunk and jKj 0
>
>
of the Equation (12) yields that by arranging the
:
Neq < Nunk
unknown reaction force vector as:
92
8
F1 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
F2 >
4
>
>
>
>
= Nelem ; number of truss members=elements
<
F3
fFRg
h
>
> Rfixed;x >
>
>
>
2Nfixed ; twice the number of joints=nodes x and y components
>
>
>
>
R
>
; Nsliding ; number of sliding joints=nodes
: fixed;y >
Rsliding
13
368
ZHAO
8
No Solution;
>
>
<
fFRg K1 fFAg;
No Solution;
>
>
:
No Solution;
Figure 3
369
CONCLUSION
In this article, a MATLAB computer model of FEA
solution for truss problems is presented. Force based
finite element formulation is introduced for truss
problems. This approach eliminates the requirement
of knowledge of deformation theory to apply FEA
to truss problems, as was traditionally done. The
property of the final assembled coefficient matrix,
with the boundary conditions applied, determines the
truss problem at hand to be statically determinate or
statically indeterminate. This formulation enables that
the FEA can be taught to sophomore students in the
Statics course and it also strengthens the students
understanding of static determinacy in truss problems.
The computer programming also strengthens the
students knowledge of the Matlab software they
learned before and their overall programming skills.
This approach increases the awareness and interest of
the students about the finite element method. It would
lead the students into later taking a formal FEA course
to further their knowledge of finite element method, as
well as to improve their programming skills.
APPENDIX
MATLAB Computer Model of FEA for Simple Plane Truss Problem
370
ZHAO
APPENDIX (Continued)
371
APPENDIX (Continued)
REFERENCES
[1] W. E. Howard, J. C. Musto, and V. Prantil, Finite
Element Analysis in a Mechanics Course Sequence,
Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition,
Session 2793, 2001.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Jiaxin Zhao is an assistant professor of
Mechanical Engineering at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. He
received his BS from the University of
Science and Technology of China, his MS