4.3.

2017 MeaningofJacobianinFEAFiniteElementAnalysis(FEA)engineeringEngTips

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MeaningofJacobianinFEA 4
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IntheFiniteElementMethod,anelement'sJacobianMatrixrelatesthequantitieswroteinthenaturalcoordinatespaceandtherealspace.Thebiggertheelementisdistortedin
comparisonwithaidealshapeelement,theworsewillbethetransformationofthequantitiesfromthenaturalspacetotherealspace.Infact,itmeansthatthedistortiononthe
elementshapewillintroduceerrorinthemathematicaltrasformationfromnaturalspacetotherealspace.

InaFESoftware,theJacobian(alsocalledJacobianRatio)isameasureofthedeviationofagivenelementfromanideallyshapedelement.Thejacobianvaluerangesfrom1.0to
1.0,where1.0representsaperfectlyshapedelement.Theidealshapeforanelementdependsontheelementtype.Thecheckisperformedbymappinganidealelementin
parametriccoordinatesontotheactualelementdefinedinglobalcoordinates.Forexample,thecoordinatesofthecornersofanidealquadelementinparametriccoordinatesare
(1,1),(1,1),(1,1),and(1,1).Thedeterminantofthejacobianrelatesthelocalstretchingoftheparametricspacerequiredtofititontoglobalcoordinatespace.Thepicture
attatchedilustratesanrealQUAD4element,frequentlyfoundinamesh,andtheidealQUAD4element.

Anelement'sJacobianMatrixisasquarematrixwhichhavedimensionof1x1for1Delements,2x22Delementsand3x3for3Delements.Thetermsinsidethismatrixarefunctions
thatdependsontheparametriccoordinates"r","s"and"t"inmostcases.Therefore,thedeterminantofanelement'sJacobianMatrixwilldependonwichpointstheFEpackagewill
useinthecalculation.Manysoftwares(HyperMesh,forexemple)evaluatesthedeterminantoftheJacobianMatrixateachoftheelement'sintegrationpoints(alsocalledGauss
points).Forexample,oneelementwhichhas4integrationpointswillhave4valuesofdeterminant.TheJacobianintheFiniteElementvocabularyisdefinedastheratiobetweenthe
smallestandthelargestvalueoftheJacobianMatrixdeterminant.Therefore,theJacobianisalwaysbetween0and1.

Differentsolvercodesusedifferentpatternsofintegrationpoints,andthesamesolvermayusedifferentpatternsfordifferentformulationsofthesameelementconfiguration.Some
solversusetheelementnodescoordinatestocalculatetheJacobian,someusetheintegrationpointscoordinatesandsomeusetheformerforsomeelementsandthelaterfor
others.It'salsopossibletochoosewhichkindofpoints(integrationpointsornodes/corners)theFEsoftwareshoulduse.

Bothfirstandsecondordersolidandplateelementsareincludedinthischeckhowever,firstordertriaandtetraelementsalwayshaveajacobianvalueof1.0becausetheterms
insideJacobianMatrixareconstants.

COMMENT:ThereareFEsoftwaresthatcalculatetheJacobianastheratiobetweenthelargestandthesmallestvalueoftheJacobianMatrixdeterminant.ThisisthecaseofANSYS
andCOSMOS/SolidWork.Inthesesoftwareshelp,therearerecommendationsofthemaximumallowableJacobianvalue.Theserecommendationswerecreatedafterexhaustive
correlationtestsmadebytheFEAspecialistsofthesoftwarecompany.

isthereaquestioninthere?

so,youexplainthemeaningjacobian.

It'saresponsetoquestions/commentsinthe"Jacobian"thread.

Idon'tknowwhyitwaspostedasanewthread.

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4.3.2017 MeaningofJacobianinFEAFiniteElementAnalysis(FEA)engineeringEngTips

DougJenkins
InteractiveDesignServices
http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/

IwouldsayFAQthisbadboy,it'sgoodinformation,butshouldn'tbeathread.

CertifiedSolidWorksProfessional

Hibxtguard,
Agoodpieceofinformation.Thanks.
Regards
Kapil

Infact,noquestionwasraised.

IhavelookedforalongtimeinbooksabouttheJacobianmeaningandhowit'scalculatedbuttheliteraturedoesshowhowthe"Jacobian",thenumberthat"appears"intheFE
softwares,iscomputed.So,afterreadsomeFEpackageshelpsandinternetinformationImadeasimpleexplanationwhichIguesswillbehelpfulforthebeginners.
ThatiswhyIhavepostedit...

HibxtguardIsincerelythankyouforthesameIwentthroughalotofdocsfo
ThisanddidntgetanyansweratallThatwasthereasonIstartedthejacobianthreadregardskapil

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