CST ELEMENT

• Constant Strain Triangular Element

– Decompose two-dimensional domain by a set of triangles.
– Each triangular element is composed by three corner nodes.
– Each element shares its edge and two corner nodes with an adjacent
element
– Counter-clockwise or clockwise node numbering
– Each node has two DOFs: u and v
– displacements interpolation using the shape functions and nodal
displacements.
– Displacement is linear because three nodal data are available.
– Stress & strain are constant.
y v3
3 u3
v1

1 u1 v2
u2
2 x 1
DISPLACEMENT INTERPOLATION
• Assumed form for displacements
– Components u(x,y) and v(x,y) are separately interpolated.
– u(x,y) is interpolated in terms of u1, u2, and u3,
and v(x,y) in terms of v1, v2, and v3.
– interpolation function must be a three term polynomial in x and y.
– Since we must have rigid body displacements and constant strain
terms in the interpolation function, the displacement interpolation must
be of the form
u(x,y)  1   2 x   3 y

v(x,y)  1  2 x  3 y

– The goal is to calculate αi and βi, i = 1, 2, 3, in terms of nodal

displacements.
u(x,y)  N1(x,y)u1  N2 (x,y)u2  N3 (x,y)u3

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CST ELEMENT cont.
• Equations for coefficients
– x-displacement: Evaluate displacement at each node
 u(x1,y1 )  u1  1   2 x1   3 y1 v3

u(x 2 ,y 2 )  u2  1   2 x 2   3 y 2 3 u3
u(x ,y )  u     x   y v1
 3 3 3 1 2 3 3 3

u1 v2
1
1 x1 y1   1 
 u1  notation
– In matrix u2
      2
u
 2   1 x 2 y 2 2
u  1 x y   
 3  3 3 3

– When is the coefficient matrix singular?

3
SOLUTION
• Explicit solution:
1
 1  1 x1 y1   u1   f1 f2 f3   u1 
     1   
 2   1 x 2 y2  u
 2  b1 b2 b3  u2 
  
  1 x y 3  u  2A c c c3  u3 
 3  3  3  1 2
– where
 f1  x 2 y 3  x 3 y 2 , b1  y 2  y 3 , c1  x 3  x 2

f2  x 3 y1  x1y 3 , b 2  y 3  y1, c 2  x1  x 3
f  x y  x y , b  y  y , c  x  x
3 1 2 2 1 3 1 2 3 2 1

– Area: 1 x1 y1
1
A  det 1 x 2 y2
2
1 x3 y3

4
INTERPOLATION FUNCTION
1
1  (f1u1  f2u2  f3u3 )
2A
1
2  (b1u1  b2u2  b3u3 )
2A
1
3  (c1u1  c 2u2  c 3u3 )
2A
• Insert to the interpolation equation
u(x,y)  1   2 x  3 y
1

2A
 (f1u1  f2u2  f3u3 )  (b1u1  b2u2  b3u3 )x  (c1u1  c 2u2  c 3u3 )y 

1
 (f1  b1x  c1y) u1 N1(x,y)
2A
1
 (f2  b2 x  c 2 y) u2
2A N2(x,y)
1
 (f3  b3 x  c 3 y) u3
2A N (x,y)
3
5
SIMILARLY FOR V
• Displacement Interpolation
– A similar procedure can be applied for y-displacement v(x, y).
 u1 
   1
u(x,y)  [N1 N2 N3 ] u2  N
 1 (x,y)  (f1  b1x  c1y)
2A
u  
 3  1
N
 2 (x,y)  (f2  b2 x  c 2 y)
 v1   2A
   1
v(x,y)  [N1 N2 N3 ] v 2  N (x,y)  (f3  b3 x  c 3 y)
v   3 2A
 3
Shape Function

– N1, N2, and N3 are linear functions of x- and y-coordinates.

– Interpolated displacement changes linearly along the each coordinate
direction.
– Tent functions 6
Quiz-like questions
• Giventhe two finite-element model in shear below with the only non-zero displacements given below
Calculate the shape function of Node 1 in the top element.
u3  u4  0.01m
• From an exam

• Which node in which element has

the shape function y?
• Solutions in the notes page

7
MATRIX EQUATION
• Displacement Interpolation
u1 
v 
 1
u  N 0 N2 0 N3 0  u2 
{u}      1  
 v  0 N1 0 N2 0 N3  v 2 
u3 
 
v 3 

{u(x,y)}  [N(x,y)]{q}

– [N]: 2×6 matrix, {q}: 6×1 vector.

– For a given point (x,y) within element, calculate [N] and multiply it with
{q} to evaluate displacement at the point (x,y).
8
STRAINS
• Strain Interpolation
– differentiating the displacement in x- and y-directions.
– differentiating shape function [N] because {q} is constant.

u   3  3 Ni 3
bi
 xx    i
x x  i1
N (x, y)ui  
 i1 x
ui  
i1 2A
ui

v   3  3 Ni 3
ci
 yy    
y y  i1
Ni (x, y)v i  
 i1 y
v i  
i1 2A
vi

u v 3
ci 3
b
 xy    ui   i v i
y x i1 2A i1 2A
 1
 N1(x,y)  2A
(f1  b1x  c1y)

 1
N2 (x,y)  (f2  b 2 x  c 2 y)
Strains are  2A
constant inside!  1
N3 (x,y)  2A
(f3  b3 x  c 3 y)


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B-MATRIX FOR CST ELEMENT
• Strain calculation

u1 
v 
 xx  b1 0 b2 0 b3 0   
1

  1   u2 
{}   yy   0 c1 0 c 2 0 c 3    [B]{q}
 
  2A c b c b c b   v 2 
  xy   1 1 2 2 3 3
u3 
 
v 3 
– [B] matrix is a constant matrix and depends only on the coordinates of
the three nodes of the triangular element.
– the strains will be constant over a given element

10
PROPERTIES OF CST ELEMENT
• Since displacement is linear in x and y, the triangular element deforms
into another triangle when forces are applied.
• a straight line drawn within an element before deformation becomes
another straight line after deformation.
• Consider a local coordinate x such that x = 0 at Node 1 and x = a at Node
2.
• Displacement on the edge 1-2: 3

u()  1   2

v()   3   4 
1 a
• Since the variation of displacement is linear, x
the displacements should depend only on 2
u1 and u2, and not on u3.

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PROPERTIES OF CST ELEMENT cont.
3

• Property of CST Element Element 1

    1
u()   1  a  u1  a u2  H1    u1  H2    u2
a
   1 x
 2
v( )   1    v   v  H    v  H    v Element 2 3
  a 1 a 2 1 1 2 2
 
• Inter-element Displacement Compatibility 2
– Displacements at any point in an element can be computed from nodal
displacements of that particular element and the shape functions.
– Consider a point on a common edge of two adjacent elements, which
can be considered as belonging to either of the elements.
– Because displacements on the edge depend only on edge nodes, both
elements will produce the same displacement for a point on a common
edge.

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EXAMPLE - Interpolation
• nodal displacements
{u1, v1, u2, v2, u3, v3, u4, v4} = {−0.1, 0, 0.1, 0, −0.1, 0, 0.1, 0}
y
• Element 1: Nodes 1-2-4
(0,1) (1,1)
x1  0 x2  1 x3  0
4 3
y1  0 y2  0 y3  1
f1  1 f2  0 f3  0
2
b1  1 b2  1 b3  0
c 1  1 c2  0 c3  1
1

N1(x,y)  1  x  y 1 2
Calculate strains x
N2 (x, y)  x directly (0,0) (1,0)

N3 (x, y)  y u(1)
 (1)
xx   0.2
3
x
u (x,y)   NI (x,y)uI  0.1(2x  2y  1)
(1)
v (1)
I1 (1)
yy   0.0
3
y
v (x,y)   NI (x,y)v I  0.0
(1)
u(1) v (1)
I1  (1)
xy    0.2
y x 13
EXAMPLE – Interpolation cont.
y
• Element 2: Nodes 2-3-4
(0,1) (1,1)
x1  1 x2  1 x3  0 3
4
y1  0 y2  1 y3  1
f1  1 f2  1 f3  1 2
b1  0 b2  1 b3  1
c1  1 c2  1 c3  0 1
N1(x,y)  1  y 1 2
x
N2 (x,y)  x  y  1 (0,0) (1,0)
N3 (x,y)  1  x
u(2)
3  (2)
xx   0.2
u (x,y)   Ni (x,y)ui  0.1(3  2x  2y)
(2) x
i1 v (2)
3 (2)
yy   0.0
v (2) (x,y)   Ni (x,y)v i  0.0 y
i1
u(2) v (2)
 (2)
xy    0.2
y x

Strains are discontinuous along the element boundary

14
Quiz-like questions
• To determine εxx at any point in a CST element which nodal
displacements are needed?
• For a tent function in a CST element N2=1 at node 2. At which
edge of element will N2 be zero?
• Will the strain at a point on common edge of two elements be
same when calculated from both the elements ?
• For Element 1 on slide 14 we are give that u1=0, u2=2mm.
What is εxx ?
• Find location of the point on edge of CST element with
displacement u=0.3mm. Nodal displacement u1 =0.2mm ,
u2=0.5mm. Edge length is 3cm.

15