MODELLING CONSIDERATIONS
By Prof K.A.S. Susantha
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SOME MODELLING CONSIDERATIONS
1. NODE LOCATION
2. ELEMENT SELECTION
3. ELEMENT MESH
4. SYEMTRY AND ANTISYMMETRY
5. BOUNDARY CONDITION
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Modelling Guidelines
1. Node Locations
• At supports
• At discontinuities (geometry, loading, material)
• At points where displacements are needed
• Trusses – only at joints & supports
• Other structures – anywhere P
t1 t2
w1 N/m
w2 N/m
Mat-1 Mat-2
crack
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Modelling Guidelines
2. Element Selection
• Type (triangular, quadrilateral, etc)
• Size (smaller at regions having rapid geometry/stress changes)
• Order ( low or high)
• Distortion ( aspect ratio & skewness)
Types of Elements (1D elements)
First order second order
Types of Elements (2D elements)
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Types of Elements (3D elements)
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Size of Elements
smaller at regions having rapid geometry/stress changes
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Order (lower order or higher order)
higher-order elements capture a more complex data representation than their
linear element predecessors and reduce the required number of elements needed to
decompose fluid flow, stress, and other simulation types.
27-nodes solid element 8
Order (lower order or higher order)
Combining lower order and higher order elements
A
Along edge AB: Compatibility along
LST CST-displacement linear edge AB cannot be
CST LST- displacement quadratic assumed
B
Note: Can enforce edge compatibility by making displacement
of LST along AB linear
Poor connection of element types
Q4
Q8
Q8 Q4 Q4
Nodes match but some
Nodes do not match edge do not match (edge
discontinuity)
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Order (lower order or higher order)
Poor connection of element types
Q4 Q4
Q4
3 nodes bar Q4
Q4
Nodes do not match
BEAM ELEMENT
CST
d.o.f. mismatch
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Modelling considerations when using CST & QUAD (Q4) elements to solve
plane problems
Constant Strain Triangle - CST (3 nodes)
Advantages:
Conforming
Very simple element
Closed form stiffness matrix k
Disadvantages:
Poor stress output (constant stress within element)
Need many elements to get good stress results
Linear Quadrilateral - QUAD (4 nodes)
Advantages:
Conforming
Simple element with variable stress
Much better than CST for the same number of nodes (half the number of CST
elements)
Disadvantages:
Need numerical integration to evaluate k
Can give shear locking (i.e shear stress under pure bending)
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Distortion ( aspect ratio & skewness)
ASPECT RATIO (AR) AND SKEWNESS
AR = Largest dimension/smallest dimension of element
Keep AR closer to 1.
Do not exceed it beyond 5 if stresses are important
Skewness = Variation of element vertex angle;
From 600 for triangles
From 900 for quadrilaterals
Avoid acute angles less than 300
Avoid obtuse angles greater than 1200
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GOOD ELEMENTS AND BAD ELEMENTS
Poor elements
Good Elements
Inadmissible Elements (will cause errors)
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3. Element Mesh
Different mesh (element arrangement) can produce different model
For example, four types of meshes with 8 triangular elements for a
plate with clamped edges. Only the shaded elements are active
because edge nodes are fully restrained. The model differ from actual
one in size and shape.
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Mesh Refinement
1. h-refinement (changing the element size)
2. p-refinement (changing to elements with higher order
polynomial interpolations)
3. r-refinements (moving nodes)
An error caused by misunderstanding or oversight is not correctible by mesh
refinement or by use of a more powerful computer- Robert D. Cook
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4. Symmetry, Asymmetry and Antisymmetry
Symmetric structure
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Asymmetry Either the structure or the loading is not symmetric
Boundary condition not symmetric
Loading not symmetric
Structure not symmetric
(different member sizes)
Asymmetric (non-symmetric structures)
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Antisymmetric
Anti-symmetric structure
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Internal force diagrams for a) a symmetric system, and b) an antisymmetric
system
Observation:
1. A symmetric beam-column system has a symmetric bending moment diagram.
2. A symmetric beam-column system has an antisymmetric shear force diagram.
3. An antisymmetric beam-column system has an antisymmetric bending moment diagram.
4. An antisymmetric beam-column system has a symmetric shear force diagram.
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Examples
HALF MODEL
Q P Q Q P/2
SYMMETRIC FRAME WITH
SYMMETRIC LOADING
HALF MODEL
Q Q Q
SYMMETRIC FRAME WITH
ANTISYMMETRIC LOADING o
SQUARE PLATE WITH
CIRCULAR HOLE UNDER QUARTER MODEL
PRESSURE
OR
1/8 MODEL
Skew BC
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5. Boundary Conditions
Essential boundary conditions
Specify the value of the variable at the boundary
They are imposed explicitly for solving
Are satisfied in the exact sense
Examples: displacement in stress analysis, temperature in thermal analysis
Natural boundary conditions
Specify the value of the derivative of a variable at the boundary
These conditions are automatically, “naturally” satisfied without any external
conditions
Are satisfied up to the order of the polynomial degree
Examples: Bending moment or shear forces in stress analysis
Adiabatic boundary in heat conduction analysis
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Displacement Boundary Conditions for Symmetry
In solid mechanics, the general rule for a symmetry displacement condition is that the
displacement vector component perpendicular to the plane is zero and the rotational
vector components parallel to the plane are zero.
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