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Finite Element Analysis in Structural Engineering

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a useful tool in civil engineering to numerically analyze complex physical structures. FEA can simplify understanding of a structure's behavior, such as how a building will react to loads from wind, gravity, or disasters. It is used to study diverse problems across structural, coastal, and hydrological engineering. FEA allows innovative design and testing of new materials and structures faster and cheaper than physical experiments.

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261 views3 pages

Finite Element Analysis in Structural Engineering

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a useful tool in civil engineering to numerically analyze complex physical structures. FEA can simplify understanding of a structure's behavior, such as how a building will react to loads from wind, gravity, or disasters. It is used to study diverse problems across structural, coastal, and hydrological engineering. FEA allows innovative design and testing of new materials and structures faster and cheaper than physical experiments.

Uploaded by

Baher
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Finite element analysis in structural engineering

Finite element analysis (FEA) is an extremely useful tool in the field of civil engineering for
numerically approximating physical structures that are too complex for regular analytical
solutions. Consider a concrete beam with support at both ends, facing a concentrated load on
its center span. The deflection at the center span can be determined mathematically in a
relatively simple way, as the initial and boundary conditions are finite and in control. However,
once you transport the same beam into a practical application, such as within a bridge, the
forces at play become much more difficult to analyze with simple mathematics.

Within the fields of structural and civil engineering, there are several such problems where FEA
can be used to simplify a structure and understand its overall behavior.

FEA in Structural Engineering


Whether you are building a simple residential building or the next Burj Khalifa, understanding
the structural behavior and integrity of your building is extremely important to ensure the
safety of its occupants.

Structural analysis involves determining the behavior of a structure when it is subjected to


loads, such as those resulting from gravity, wind, or even in extreme cases natural disasters
(e.g., earthquakes). Using basic concepts of applied mathematics, any built structure can be
analyzed—buildings, bridges, dams or even foundations.

For example, in the right conditions, a structure such as the Burj Khalifa would oscillate by up to
3m at its highest point. Imagine living on the top floor and being subjected to this kind of
motion. For more reasons than one (nauseated inhabitants included), this kind of motion needs
to be controlled, and most structures use a damper to reduce the motion. Taipei 101 has a
famous tuned mass damper as shown in the video below.

However, in contrast to Taipei 101, rather than take valuable space with a damper, the team of
architects and engineers responsible for the Burj Khalifa instead specifically designed its shape
to “confuse” winds, and therefore reduce oscillation from wind loads. To see this unique shape
in action, you can check out the below simulation video created with SimScale, or if you’re
interested to read further, check out this Quora answer: “How does Burj Khalifa Survive Wind
Loads“.

On the other of the spectrum, earthquakes are a major concern in several highly populated
parts of the world. When it comes to natural disasters, a large number of building codes are not
up to standard and can often result in devastating casualties. For example, in the 1985 Mexico
City earthquake, a significant portion of the damage occurred to buildings that had between 8 –
15 stories. Buildings that were taller or shorter fared much better. Why? The frequency of the
earthquakes seismic waves happened to match the natural frequency of the mid-sized
buildings, causing them to oscillate more violently, eventually leading them to collapse. The
video below provides a concise explanation of the forces behind this movement and how it can
be reduced.

While standard solutions like the moment distribution method, unit load method, or the strain
energy formula, can be used to determine the behavior of simple structures (such as
cantilevered beams, supported beams or trusses ). For non-conventional structures, we have to
go deeper.

Originally, civil engineers used laboratory experiments to solve these design problems,
especially in regards to the behavior of the steel structures when subjected to high wind loads
and earthquakes. However, such reliance on laboratory testing was costly and not immediately
accessible. Thus, structural codes were developed. These codes made it easier for engineers to
define what sort of behavior was acceptable and safe for standard structures. However, with
the recent advent of accessible CAE tools, designing, testing and guaranteeing the safety of an
innovative building project and its materials has become easier, faster, and significantly
cheaper.

The purpose of a helmet is to protect the person who wears it from a head injury during
impact. In this project, the impact of a human skull with and without a helmet was simulated
with nonlinear dynamic analysis. Download this case study for free.

Using FEA in Other Areas of Civil Engineering


Innovative Building Materials
Concrete has been a building material for a very long time. There are many phenomena like
alkali-silica reactions where research continues. Why does concrete crack and how does the
composition influence the crack growth? Can we create self-healing materials?

One of the biggest ifs in an FEA simulation is the accurate determination of material properties.
This is where novel research areas like multiscale modeling come into the picture. Using a
multiscale model, one is able to use the microstructure (or otherwise each individual
component property) to determine the property of the concrete (or otherwise the property of
the whole).

Sedimentation, Erosion & Hydrology


The motion of water produced in coastal areas is more predominant than inland waterways.
Generation of high current waves, tides, ocean currents, storm surges, tsunamis, wind currents,
etc. bring complications, and along with water particles cause subsequent damage and
destruction of marine structures.

In the context of coastal flow problems, the boundary conditions of reflection and diffraction of
wave-current complicate the civil engineers to analyze the same to get the solutions. Thus,
coastal flow modeling (finite element modeling of fluid flows) and analysis based on numerical-
empirical methodology is of today’s trend.

It is not just the coastal areas but also the catchment regions where hydrological models have
been used over the last decades to understand the flow of water in porous soil and thus
contributing to the groundwater levels.

While linear static analysis of hydrological projects like dams considers the load of the river on
the dam, nonlinear analysis is needed to comprehensively consider the effect of the
conveyance system including the inner cushion surface, outer surface of steel liner tuber to face
water contact, and contact between concrete and steel liner, etc..

References
https://www.simscale.com/blog/2019/01/fea-applications-civil-engineering/

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