Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS)

DoITPoMS Teaching & Learning Packages Finite Element Method Summary
Finite Element Method AimsBefore you startIntroductionNodes, elements, degrees of freedom and boundary conditionsDirect stiffness method and the global stiffness matrixEnforcing Boundary ConditionsInterpolation/Basis/Shape Functions1D first order shape functions1D second order shape functionsTypical steps during FEM modellingSummaryQuestions
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Summary

  • You should now understand the basics of the finite element method
  • You should be able to build a global stiffness matrix for a combination of 1-dimensional springs
  • You should understand the importance of boundary conditions (including types of boundary conditions)
  • You should be familiar with first and second order shape functions and you should be able to use these functions to calculate the value of a solution between nodes.
  • You should understand and appreciate that the finite element method provides approximate solutions only, and that the accuracy of your solution will depend on element type and mesh density.

 

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