Constant Strain

Triangle (CST)
Finite element formulation for 2D:

Step 1: Divide the body into finite elements connected to each

other through special points (“nodes”)
py
3 px v3
4 3
u3
v4 u 1 
v 2 Element ‘e’ v2 v 
1  1
4 u 2 
u ST u4
v1 2 u2  
v 2 
y d 
x y u3 
Su 
u1 v 3 
1
v  
x x u 4 
u v 
 4
 u (x, y)  N1(x, y) u 1  N 2 (x, y) u 2  N 3 (x, y) u 3  N 4 (x, y) u 4
v (x, y)  N1(x, y) v1  N 2 (x, y) v 2  N 3 (x, y) v 3  N 4 (x, y) v 4

u 1 
v 
 1
u 2 
 
u (x, y)  N 1 0 N2 0 N3 0 N4 0  v 2 
u    
 v (x, y)  0 N1 0 N2 0 N3 0 N 4  u 3 
v 3 
 
u 4 
v 
uNd  4
TASK 2: APPROXIMATE THE STRAIN and STRESS WITHIN
EACH ELEMENT

Approximation of the strain in element ‘e’

u (x, y) N 1(x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) N 4 (x, y)

x   u1  u2  u3  u4
x x x x x
v (x, y) N 1(x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) N 4 (x, y)
y   v1  v2  v3  v4
y y y y y
u (x, y) v (x, y) N1(x, y) N1(x, y)
 xy    u1  v1  ......
y x y x
 x 
 
   y 
 xy 
 
u 1 
v 
 N 1(x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) N 4 (x, y)  1 
 0 0 0 0  u 2 
  x  x  x  x  
N (x, y) N (x, y) N (x, y) N (x, y)  v 2 
 0 1
0 2
0 3
0 4
 
 y y y y  u 3 
 N (x, y) N (x, y) N (x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) N 4 (x, y) N 4 (x, y)  v 
 1 1 2
 3
 y x y x y x y x  u 
                                         4
B v 
 4

εBd
Summary: For each element
Displacement approximation in terms of shape functions
uNd

Strain approximation in terms of strain-displacement matrix

εBd
Stress approximation
  DB d
Element stiffness matrix
k   e B D B dV
T
V

Element nodal load vector

f   e N X dV   e N T S dS
T T

V     ST    
f f
b S
Constant Strain Triangle (CST) : Simplest 2D finite element

v1
v3
1 u1
(x1,y1) (x3,y3)
v2 v u3
y u 3
(x,y)

u2
2 (x2,y2)

• 3 nodes per element

• 2 dofs per node (each node can move in x- and y- directions)
• Hence 6 dofs per element
The displacement approximation in terms of shape functions is

u (x,y)  N1u1  N 2 u 2  N 3u 3

v(x,y)  N1v1  N 2 v 2  N 3 v 3
 u1 
v 
 1
u (x, y)  N 1 0 N2 0 N3 0  u 2 
u   
v (x, y)  0 N1 0 N2 0 N 3   v 2 
u 3 
 
u 21  N 26 d 61  v 3 

 N1 0 N2 0 N3 0
N
0 N1 0 N2 0 N 3 
 Formula for the shape functions are
a1  b1 x  c1 y
v1 N1 
v3 2A
1 u1 a 2  b2 x  c 2 y
(x1,y1) (x3,y3) N2 
v2 v u3 2A
u 3 a3  b3 x  c3 y
y (x,y) N3 
2A
where u2
2 (x2,y2)

x
1 x 1 y1 
1
A  area of triangle  det 1 x 2 y 2 
2
1 x 3 y 3 
a1  x 2 y 3  x3 y 2 b1  y 2  y 3 c1  x3  x 2
a 2  x3 y1  x1 y 3 b2  y 3  y1 c 2  x1  x3
a3  x1 y 2  x 2 y1 b3  y1  y 2 c3  x 2  x1
 Properties of the shape functions:

1. The shape functions N1, N2 and N3 are linear functions of x

and y
N2
N1 N3
1
1 1
1 3 1
y 3 2 3

1
2 2

x
1 at node ' i '
Ni  
0 at other nodes
2. At every point in the domain

N
i 1
i 1
3

N x
i 1
i i x
3

N y
i 1
i i y
3. Geometric interpretation of the shape functions
At any point P(x,y) that the shape functions are evaluated,

A1
N1 
A
A2
N2 
P (x,y)
A
1 A3
A2 N3 
y
A3
A1 3 A

x
Approximation of the strains
 u 
 x 

 x   
   v 
  y    Bd
y
   
 xy   u v 
 y  x 
 

 N1(x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) 

 0 0 0 
 x x x 
N1(x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) 
B 0 0 0
 y y y 
 N (x, y) N (x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 2 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) N 3 (x, y) 
 1 1

 y x y x y x 
b1 0 b2 0 b3 0 
1
  0 c1 0 c 2 0 c3 
2A
c1 b1 c 2 b2 c3 b3 
Inside each element, all components of strain are constant: hence
the name Constant Strain Triangle

Element stresses (constant inside each element)

  DB d
IMPORTANT NOTE:
1. The displacement field is continuous across element
boundaries
2. The strains and stresses are NOT continuous across element
boundaries
Element stiffness matrix
t
k   e B D B dV
T
V

Since B is constant
A

k  B D B e dV  B D B At
T T t=thickness of the element
V A=surface area of the element
Element nodal load vector

f   e N X dV   e N T S dS
T T

V     ST    
f f
b S
Element nodal load vector due to body forces

f b   e N X dV  t  e N X dA
T T
V A

t N X dA 
 b1x 
f  Ae
1 a

fb1y
fb3y  f  t  e N1 X b dA 
1 fb1x  b1 y   A 
 f b 2 x  t  e N 2 X a dA
Xb fb3x fb  
A

fb2y Xa
y (x,y)
3  f b 2 y  t Ae N 2 X b dA
 f b3 x   
fb2x   t Ae N 3 X a dA
2  f b 3 y   
x
t Ae N 3 X b dA

EXAMPLE:

If Xa=1 and Xb=0

t N X dA 
 f b1x   Ae
1 a
    tA 
t  e N 1 dA 3
 f  t  e N1 X b dA   A 
 b1 y   A   0   0 
 f b 2 x  t  e N 2 X a dA t N dA  tA 
fb      Ae 2    3 
A

 f b 2 y  t Ae N 2 X b dA  0  0

 f b3 x     t N dA   tA 
  t Ae N 3 X a dA  Ae 3   
 f b 3 y     0   3 
t Ae N 3 X b dA 0

Element nodal load vector due to traction

  e N T S dS
T
f S ST

EXAMPLE:

fS1y
fS3y f  t N
T
T S dS
1 S l1 3 e
along 13

fS1x fS3x
y 3

x
Element nodal load vector due to traction

EXAMPLE:

fS2y f S  t
T
e
N T S dS
l 2 3 along 2 3
(2,2)
2 fS2x
y f S2 x  t  N 2 along 23 (1) dy 1
1
e
l23
TS   
0 1 2
fS3y  t    2 1  t
 2
1 3 fS3x x
Similarly, compute
(0,0) (2,0)

f S2 y  0
f S3 x  t
f S3 y  0
Recommendations for use of CST

1. Use in areas where strain gradients are small

2. Use in mesh transition areas (fine mesh to coarse mesh)

3. Avoid CST in critical areas of structures (e.g., stress

concentrations, edges of holes, corners)

4. In general CSTs are not recommended for general analysis

purposes as a very large number of these elements are required
for reasonable accuracy.
 Example 1000 KN
y 300 KN
3 2

El 2 Thickness (t) = 5mm

20mm E= 30×106 Mpa
El 1
=0.25
1
x
4 30 mm

(a) Compute the unknown nodal displacements.

(b) Compute the stresses in the two elements.
Realize that this is a plane stress problem and therefore we need to use

 
 1  0  3.2 0.8 0 
E 0.8 3.2 0  107 Mpa
D  1 0  
1  2  1    
0 0   0 0 1.2
 2 

Step 1: Node-element connectivity chart

ELEMENT Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Area

(mm2)
1 1 2 4
2 3 4 2

Node x y
1 3 0 Nodal coordinates
2 3 2
3 0 2
4 0 0
 Step 2: Compute strain-displacement matrices for the elements

Recall b1 0 b2 0 b3 0  with

1 b1  y2  y3 b2  y3  y1 b3  y1  y2
B   0 c1 0 c2 0 c3 
2A c1  x3  x2 c2  x1  x3 c3  x2  x1
c1 b1 c2 b2 c3 b3 

For Element #1: 2(2) y1  0; y2  2; y3  0

x1  3; x2  3; x3  0
Hence b  2 b2  0 b3  2
1

c1  3 c2  3 c3  0
4(3) 1(1) Therefore  2 0 0 0 2 0 
1
(local numbers within brackets) B   0  3 0 3 0 0 
(1)

6
 3 2 3 0 0  2
For Element #2:

 2 0 0 0 2 0
1
B   0 3 0  3 0 0
( 2)

6
 3  2  3 0 0 2
Step 3: Compute element stiffness matrices

(1) (1) T (1) (1) T (1)

k  At B D B  (3)(0.5)B DB
0.9833  0.5  0.45 0.2  0.5333 0.3 
 1 . 4 0. 3  1 . 2 0 .2  0. 2 
 
 0.45 0 0  0.3
   10 7

 1 .2  0 . 2 0 
 0.5333 0 
 
 0.2 
u1 v1 u2 v2 u4 v4
 ( 2) ( 2) T ( 2) ( 2) T ( 2)
k  At B D B  (3)(0.5)B DB
0.9833  0.5  0.45 0.2  0.5333 0.3 
 1 . 4 0. 3  1 . 2 0 .2  0. 2 
 
 0.45 0 0  0.3
   10 7

 1 .2  0 . 2 0 
 0.5333 0 
 
 0.2 
u3 v3 u4 v4 u2 v2
Step 4: Assemble the global stiffness matrix corresponding to the nonzero degrees of
freedom
Notice that
u3  v3  u4  v4  v1  0
Hence we need to calculate only a small (3x3) stiffness matrix

u1
u2
v2
u1 u2 v2
Step 5: Compute consistent nodal loads

 f1x   0 
   
f   f2x    0 
f  f 
 2y   2y 

f 2 y  1000  f S 2 y

The consistent nodal load due to traction on the edge 3-2

f S2 y  
3
N 3 3 2 (300)tdx x
x 0
N 2 3 2 
3
3
 ( 300)(0.5)  N 3 3 2 dx
x 0

x3 3 2
 150  dx
x 0 3

3
 x2  9
 50    50    225 KN
 2 0 2
Hence
f 2 y  1000  f S 2 y
 1225 KN

Step 6: Solve the system equations to obtain the unknown nodal loads

Kd  f

 0.983  0.45 0.2 u1   0 

   
107   0.45 0.983 0  u2    0 
 0.2 0 1.4     
v2   1225

Solve to get

u1   0.2337 10 mm 

4

   4 
u2    0.1069  10 mm 
v   0.9084 10  4 mm
 2  
Step 7: Compute the stresses in the elements

In Element #1
(1) (1) (1)
 DB d

With

  u1 v1 u2 v2 u4 v4 
(1) T
d

 0.2337 10  4 0 0.1069 10  4  0.9084 10  4 0 0 
Calculate

  114.1 
  1391.1 Mpa
(1)

  76.1 
 In Element #2

( 2) ( 2) ( 2)
 DB d
With

  u3 v3 u4 v4 u2 v2 
( 2)T
d

 0 0 0 0 0.1069 10  4  0.9084 10 4 
Calculate

 114.1 
  28.52  Mpa
( 2)

 363.35

Notice that the stresses are constant in each element