Finite Element Course

5 Direct Stiffness Method

Prof. Raul Durand

 Finite Direct Stiffness Method
Elements

Direct Stiffness Method

The Direct Stiffness Method (DSM), also called the Displacement Method or the Matrix
Method, is a method of structural analysis. It uses matrix relations to compute member
forces and displacements in structures. Frequently this method is used to analyze truss and
frame systems. The analysis of an structure using the DSM is usually divided in three major
steps: breakdown, assembly and solution.
In the breakdown step, the structure is divided into elements and the stiffness matrix for
each element is computed. The stiffness matrix compiles together material and geometric
properties of the element and is derived using basic concepts of equilibrium and compatibility.
For each element we have:

K(e) U(e) = F(e)

where K(e) is the element’s stiffness matrix, U(e) is the element’s displacements vector and
F(e) is the element’s forces vector.
In the assembly step the equilibrium equations from all elements are compiled into a global
system of linear equations using the superposition principle:

KU = F

Finally this system is solved to find unknown displacements and reaction forces.
Frequently, bar, beam, spring and joint elements are formulated using the DSM.
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 Finite Truss element
Elements

Truss element
In a truss element, all displacements are evaluated at
nodes. Stress and strain along the element are calcu-
lated using nodal displacements. When a load F is ap-
plied on a truss member, the strain at a point is given
by the following relationship:
∆L
ε= L
du Before
= dx

where u is the displacement and L is the truss element

length and ∆L is the change in length. Using Hook’s After
law and Young modulus E, the axial stress is given by:

σ = Eε Axial deformation in a truss element

From the above relations, ∆L is found as:

FL
∆L = AE

Once ∆L is known, the strain and stress can be easily

calculated.

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 Finite Truss element
Elements

A 1D truss element comprises 2 nodes and 2 nodal dis-

placements related to two external forces F1 and F2 , all
of them in the axial direction.
In the Direct Stiffness Method displacements, the fol-
1 Before 2
lowing equations relate forces and displacements:
EA
F1 = L (u1 − u2 )
EA After
F2 = L (u2 − u1 )

Note that due to equilibrium of forces, F1 = −F2 .

The equations above written in matrix form as:
" # ! !
EA 1 −1 u1 F1 Nodal displacements and forces
L =
−1 1 u2 F2 in a 1D truss element

or in short as:
K(e) U(e) = F(e)

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 Finite 2D truss element
Elements

2D truss element
In 2D space and since a bar element can be inclined by
an angle θ, it is considered 2 displacements per node;
for example, in x and y directions. Thus, it is said that
each node has 2 degrees of freedom (dof).
For convenience, the formulation of a plane truss el-
ement is based on the equilibrium equation for a 1D
truss element. In this case, overbars are used to repre-
sent variables in the element coordinates:

K̄(e) Ū(e) = F̄(e) Nodal displacements

Using trigonometric relations, axial displacements can

be calculated from global displacements:
 
! " u1x#
u1 cos θ sin θ 0 0  u1y 

=
u2 0 0 cos θ sin θ u2x 
 

u2y
Nodal forces
or in short:

Ū(e) = TU(e)
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 Finite 2D truss element
Elements

Matrix T is a transformation matrix (or rotation ma-

trix) between two orthonormal systems, thus TTT = I.
Forces in the xy system are related to axial forces by:

TT F̄(e) = F

Combining this equation with K̄(e) Ū(e) = F̄(e) we get:

TT K̄(e) TU = F
Nodal displacements
where the stiffness matrix from the plane truss element
is given by K(e) = TT K̄(e) T
Finally, the matrix equilibrium equation for a plane
truss element is given by:
 2
cs −c2 −cs
  
c u1x F1x
 cs
EA  s2 −cs −s2  u  F 
  1y   1y 
−c2
L  −cs c2 cs  u2x  F2x 
  

−cs −s2 cs s2 u2y F2y Nodal forces

where c = cos θ and s = sin θ.

Note that the stiffness matrix K is symmetric.
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 Finite 3D truss element
Elements

3D truss element
The same approach as for truss elements in 2D space
can be used. In 3D truss elements 3 displacements per
node should be considered.
The directional unit vector of a two node truss element
can be easily calculated from nodal coordinates vectors
x1 and x2 :
x2 −x1
n̂ = kx2 −x1 k

Thus the transformation matrix T is defined using the

components of n̂ (direction cosines):
 
u1x
u1y  Truss direction cosines
!" #  
u1 l m n 0 0 0 u 
 1z 
= 
u2 0 0 0 l m n u2x 
 
u2y 
u2z

where l = cos θ1 , m = cosθ2 and n = cos θ3 are the

direction cosines. Also l2 + n2 + z 2 = 1

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 Finite 3D truss element
Elements

The displacements and forces vectors are:

h iT
u = u1x u1y u1z u2x u2y u2z
h iT
F = F1x F1y F1z F2x F2y F2z

Nodal displacements
and the stiffness matrix is given by:

l2 −l2 −lm −ln

 
lm ln
 lm
 m2 mn −lm −m2 −mn 
 ln mn n2 −ln −mn −n 2
K = EA
 
 −l2 −lm −ln
L  l 2 lm lm 

−lm −m2 −mn lm m2
 
mn 
−ln −mn −n2 ln mn n2

Nodal forces

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 Finite Truss system
Elements

Truss system

A truss is a structure constructed using several mem- 1 1 2 2 3

bers (truss elements) whose ends are connected by joints 4
(nodes). 3 5
4
External forces and reactions are considered to act at
nodes. 6
5
Resulting axial forces in members are either tensile Truss example
or compressive forces. Neither moments (torques) nor
shear forces are considered. 3

Boundary conditions are given by external loads and

5
displacement restrictions at nodes. 4
Truss member (global numbering)
To solve a truss the global stiffness matrix and vectors
for displacements and forces need to be assembled.
2
The finite element approach can solve hyperstatic
trusses. On the other hand, a hypostatic truss yields 5
an underdetermined system of equations. 1
Truss member (local numbering)

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 Finite Global matrices assembly
Elements

Global matrices assembly

3

2
Using the superposition principle, a global system of
linear equations is assembled from interconnected finite
elements as: 1 2
1
Truss structure
KU = F
1 2 3

{
{
{
{ 1
where K is the global stiffness matrix, U and F are now { 2
global displacements and forces vectors, respectively. {
3
Vector U contains all displacement degrees of freedom
Stiffness contribution
from the system. It includes support conditions and from element 1
other prescribed displacements.
{ 1
The global stiffness matrix is usually sparse. Proper { 2
node numbering can reduce the bandwidth in stiffness {
3
matrices.
Force contribution
Frequently, sparse solvers are required for large finite from node 1

element analyses. Assembly of the global stiffness matrix

and the global force vector

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 Finite System solution
Elements

System solution
Once global stiffness matrix and global vectors are assembled, it is time to find the unknown
nodal values.
It is convenient to reorganize the system Ku=F in order to solve for unknown displacements.
This reorganization leads to the following subdivision:
" # ! " #
K11 K12 U1 F1
=
K21 K22 U2 F2

In the equation above U1 contains the unknown displacements and F2 the unknown reactions.
U2 contains prescribed displacements and F2 contains prescribed forces.
This equation can be decomposed in the following two equations:

K11 U1 + K12 U2 = F1
K21 U1 + K22 U2 = F2

The first equation leads to the following system which is used to find the unknown displace-
ments U1 :

K11 U1 = F1 − K12 U2

Once U1 is found, reaction forces F2 are calculated using the second equation.
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 Finite System solution
Elements

A simple way to determine the unknown displacements when all prescribed displacements
are equal to zero is by the use of the Zeros-and-ones Method. The original system is modified
by replacing some terms with zeros and ones in order to guarantee the values of prescribed
displacements.
For instance, consider the system below:
    
K11 K12 K13 K14 K15 K16 u1x F1x
K21 K22 K23 K14 K25 K26  u1y  F1y 
   
 
K K32 K33 K14 K35 K36 
 u2x  F2x 
   
 31
=
K41 K42 K43 K14 K45 K46  u2y  F2y 
  
    
K51 K52 K53 K14 K55 K56  u3x  F3x 
K61 K62 K63 K14 K65 K66 u3y F3y

If displacements u2x , u3x and u3y are prescribed and equal to zero, then the system of
equations is modified to:
    
K11 K12 0 K14 0 0 u1x F1x
K21 K22 0 K14 0 0 u1y  F1y 
    
 u2x   0 
 0 0 1 0 0 0    
=

K41 K42 0 K14 0 0 u2y  F2y 
  
    
 0 0 0 0 1 0 u3x   0 
0 0 0 0 0 1 u3y 0

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 Finite Beam element
Elements

Exercises
1. Find nodal displacements and reaction forces in the truss system. Solve the linear
system by separating unknown displacements. Later solve the system using the zeros-
and-ones method. Use P = 10 kN and EA = 2000 kN. The lengths for elements 1 and
2 are 1 m and 0.8 m, respectively.

2 2

1
3

1
3

2. Find the finite element equations for a spring element in 2D and 3D.
3. Find the displacements of node 2 in the spring system below. Each spring stiffness is
equal to 1000 kN/m and P = 7.07 kN.

1 2

3
4

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 Finite Beam element
Elements

Beam element
For a conventional beam element we consider four dis-
placement degrees of freedom that are collected into a
vector of displacements as:
h iT
Ue = v1 θ1 v2 θ2

Also, the corresponding vector of nodal forces is:

h iT
F e = V 1 M1 V 2 M2
External forces
The governing equation for beam bending is given by
the Euler-Bernoulli differential equation:
d v 4
EI dx4 = q(x)
Displacements
The stiffness matrix will relate nodal forces with nodal
displacements. Thus, to derived this matrix we do not Degrees of freedom and external forces
need to consider the distributed load q. Distributed
loadings can be incorporated later by means of equiva-
lent nodal forces. Then, the derivation starts assuming:
d v 4
EI dx4 = 0

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 Finite Beam element
Elements

Using the Displacement Method it is possible to find each component of the beam stiff-
ness matrix. In this method unit deflections and rotations are applied individually and the
corresponding reaction forces are computed.
For example, if we apply a unit displacement v1 = 1 at
the left end, we can write the following relation based
on the reaction forces:
    12EI 
k11 0 0 0 1 L3
 6EI 
k 0 0 0 0 
   Unit deflection
 21 L2 

  =  12EI at left end
k31 0 0 0 0 − 3 
 
L 
k41 0 0 0 0 6EI
L2

And for a unit rotation θ1 = 1 we get:

    6EI 
0 k12 0 0 0 L2 Unit rotation
 4EI 
0 k22 0 0 1  L 
    at left end
  =
 
0

k32 0 0 0  6EI 
− L2  Unit displacements and reactions
0 k42 0 0 0 2EI
L

As can be seen, reaction forces above represent the components of the first two columns
of the beam stiffness matrix. Unit displacements can be applied at the right end to get
remaining components.
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 Finite Beam element
Elements

A more general way to find the stiffness matrix is by

successive integration of the Euler-Bernoulli equation.
Doing so we get:
d v 4
q(x) = EI dx4 = 0

d v 3
V (x) = EI dx3 = c1

d v 2
M (x) = EI dx2 = c1 x + c2
 2

dv
θ(x) = dx = 1
EI c1 x2 + c2 x + c3
 3 2

v(x) = v = 1
EI c1 x6 + c2 x2 + c3 x + c4
External forces
where c1 , ..., c4 are constants to be determined.
Beam element with no
Applying displacement boundary conditions at both
distributed loading
nodes we get the following relations in terms of con-
stants c1 , ..., c4 :
1
v1 = v(0) = EI c4
dv 1
θ1 = dx (0) = EI c3
 3 2

v2 = v(L) = EI1
c1 L6 + c2 L2 + c3 L + c4
 2

dv
θ2 = dx (L) = 1
EI c1 L2 + c2 L + c3

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 Finite Beam element
Elements

These equations can be written in matrix form as:

 1  
0 0 0 EI c1

v1

1
 0 0 0

EI  c2  θ1 
 
 = 
 3 
L L2 L 1  c 

v
 6EI 2EI EI EI  3   2 
L2 L 1
0 c4 θ 2
2EI EI EI External forces

whose solution is given by: Beam element with no

distributed loading
 12EI 6EI
 
c1 L3 L2
− 12EI
L3
6EI   
L2 v
6EI   1
c  
 2  − L2
 − 4EI
L
6EI
L2
− 2EI2
  θ1 
L  
 =
c3  
0  v2 

0 EI 0
c4 EI 0 0 0 θ2
Shear diagram

These constants can be related to nodal forces based on

the moment and shear diagrams, then:
Moment diagram
V (0) = V1 = c1
M (0) = −M1 = c2 → M1 = −c2 Shear and moment diagrams

V (L) = V1 = −V2 = c1 → V2 = −c1

M (L) = M2 = c1 L + c2
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 Finite Beam element
Elements

Substituting the expressions for c1 and c2 in the last equations we get the finite element equa-
tions for the beam element:
    
12 6L −12 6L v1 V1
 6L 4L 2 2
−6L 2L  θ1  M1 
   
EI
  = 
 
L3 −12 −6L

12 −6L v2   V2 


6L 2L2 −6L 4L2 θ2 M2

where the beam element stiffness matrix have been recovered.

Distributed load
To take into account the existence of distributed loading along the beam, for example, a
constant loading, we may consider:
4
d v
q(x) = EI dx4 = q

Proceeding with successive integrations as before we arrive to the following system of equa-
tions:
      
12 6L −12 6L v1 V1 6
 6L 4L2 2
−6L 2L  θ1  M1 
     L 
EI qL 
  =  +
  
L3 −12 −6L

12 −6L v2   V2  12 
 6 


6L 2L2 −6L 4L2 θ2 M2 −L

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 Finite Frame element
Elements

Frame element
The finite element equations from a beam element can be combined with the equations of
the truss element in order to incorporate the calculations of axial deformations. The results
is the so called frame element whose finite element equations are given in the following linear
system:
 EA
− EA

L 0 0 L 0 0    
12EI 6EI  u1 F1
− 12EI 6EI

 0 0
L3 L2 L3 L2   v1   V 1 
  

6EI 4EI 6EI 2EI

 0 0 − L2
   
L2 L L
  θ1  M1 
   =  
 EA EA u F

− L 0 0 L 0 0  
  2   2 


 0 − 12EI − 6EI 0 12EI 6EI 
− L2  v
  
2 V 2 
L3 L2 L3
θ2 M2

6EI 2EI
0 L2 L 0 − 6EI
L2
4EI
L

where u represents axial displacements and v represents normal displacements.

As can be seen, there are three degrees of freedom per node: two displacements and one
rotation.
Note that in the frame element, axial deformations and bending are uncoupled. That means
that axial deformations does not produce bending and bending does not produce axial de-
formations.

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 Finite Frame element
Elements

The equations for a frame element inclined by an angle θ in an orthonormal xy system can
be easily formulated by the use of a transformation matrix that relates nodal displacements
to the local system, thus:
    
u1 c s 0 0 0 0 u1x
 v1  −s c 0 0 0 0  v1y 
    
θ   0 0 1 0 0 0  θ1 
 
 1 
 =
u2   0 0 0 c s 0 u2x 
 
    
 v2   0 0 0 −s c 0  v2y 
θ2 0 0 0 0 0 1 θ2

where c = cos(θ) and s = sin(θ). This equation can be written in short as:

Ū = TU

Likewise, forces in the xy system are related to forces in the local system as:

TT F̄ = F

Combining these two equations with the local equilibrium equation, K̄Ū = F̄, we end up
with the stiffness matrix for a frame element in the xy system as:

K = TT K̄T

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 Finite Exercises
Elements

Exercises

1. Using successive integrations of the Euler-

Bernoulli equation, determine the finite element
equations for a beam element with triangular
loading as shown.
2. Compute nodal displacements and reaction forces
in the cantilever beam. Use two finite elements
and assume EI = 100 kNm2 , L = 1 m, M =
20 KNm and q = 120 kN/m. Draw the diagrams
for bending moment, shear forces and deflection.

3. Compute displacements and reaction forces in the

one story portal frame. Consider P = 10 kN,
EI = 10 kNm2 , L = 1 m and EA = 100 kN.
Draw the diagrams for bending moment and shear
forces.

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 Finite Suggested bibliography
Elements

Suggested bibliography
1. H.L. Soriano, Elementos Finitos: Formulação e Aplicação na Estática e Dinâmica das
Estruturas, Ciência Moderna, 2009.
2. C.A. Felippa, Introduction to Finite Element Methods, Lecture notes, Colorado, 2001.
3. J.N. Reddy, An Introduction to the Finite Element Method, Third edition, McGraw
Hill, 2005.

You cannot teach a man anything;

you can only help him discover it in himself.
Galileo Galilei

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