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No class Friday Final Rod FEM example Beam Bending Elements
Thus, we can write the axial and vertical displacements of generic point P as:
From the above expressions, it is seen that Extension & Bending are decoupled:
We can use the Finite Element Method to analyze the beam under bending loads.
What should the nodal D.O.F.s be? What should the assumed displacement with the element be?
To answer the first question, we have to keep in mind that the displacement must be continuous from element to element (i.e. at element boundaries).
For axial (bar) problem, only displacement was u. By having u1 and u2 as elemental NODAL DOFs and assigning u2k-1 and u1k to the same global DOF (during assembly) we ensured that the displacement was continuous at element boundaries. For beam bending, both u and w have to be continuous at boundaries.
Then, assign local DOFs of adjacent elements to same global DOFs (during assembly) such that:
For beam bending problem, assumed displacement w (within the element) has to be written in terms of: You can choose a cubic function:
How do we calculate the a coefficients in terms of nodal displacements (shape functions)? As with the rod elements we must rewrite the assumed displacement function in terms of nodal displacements and shape functions.
where,
Sample Problem 1
Calculate the tip displacement and rotation of the beam due to tip load P, using a single element. Calculate the reaction force, R, and the reaction Moment, M, at the clamped boundary.
Sample Problem 2
Analyze the structure below using 2 elements. Calculate the deflection at the joint of the two beams.
Sample Problem 3
Look at the previous problem, except now the two beams are connected through a hinge.
Sample Problem 4
How does the linear spring shown below affect the problem?
Sample Problem 5
Show the affect of the linear and rotational spring to the finite element method.