Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-31-1986

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Rong-Yaw Chen

Second Advisor

Edward Miller

Third Advisor

Jui Sheng Hsieh

Abstract

A finite-element program FEM2D has been implemented on a PHILIPS microcomputer. The program has a generation preprocessor and thus makes finite-element analysis on a microcomputer considerably easier than before, since it allows models to be created and edited much faster than by manual method. The interactive program FEM2D prompts the user to input data directly from the screen. It is convenient for the user, both in teaching and learning.

The FEM2D is a two-dimensional finite-element program capable of solving two-dimensional problems, such as plane elasticity, heat transfer and imcompressible fluid flow problems. It is developed with a formulation of a variational method [Rith method] to obtain an element coefficient (stiffness) matrix and employed the Gaussian Elimination.

Several example problems such as a beam under torsion and plate under tension have been tested and the results were compared with theoretical solutions. The results showed that a microcomputer, PHILIPS, used in this project with memory of 640K can be used to solve many engineering problems. It also shows that the results obtained from the PHILIPS and the main frame---UNIVAC system are almost the same. Therefore, with increasing the capacity of the PC, one will be able to use it to solve more complex engineering problems.

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