CHAPTER 4 : POTENTIAL ENERGY AND EQUILIBRIUM
4.1 Energy Principles
When external forces are applied to a body, the mechanical work done by those
forces is converted, in general, into a combination of kinetic and potential energies. In the
case of an elastic body constrained to prevent motion, all the work
is stored in the body as elastic potential energy, which is also commonly
referred to as strain energy. Here, strain energy is denoted Ue and mechanical
work W. From elementary statics, the mechanical work performed by a force F
as its point of application moves along a path from position 1 to position 2 is
defined as W.
Energy methods can also be used to approximate solutions when solving structure that are
more realistic. Just like the Galerkin’s Method, the finite element equations can also be
derived using energy methods.
When an external force is exerted to a body, the force does work. The work done by the
force is converted to either one or both of the below:
i. Strain energy, Ue, which is stored in the material of the body (internal) if the body is
constrained,
ii. Mechanical work done, W
1 2
Figure 4.1: Work done by the force F
Referring to Figure 4.1, the work done, W, by force F to the body as illustrated is given by:
(4.1)
where:
(4.2)
is a differential vector along the path of motion.
Giving:
1
(4.3)
where Fx, Fy, and Fz are the Cartesian components of the force vector.
Using the example of an axially loaded bar as shown in Figure,
the strain energy can be written as:
(4.4)
From Hooke’s Law, , so where is the displacement, and V is the
volume, of the bar.
We can now write the potential energy per unit volume of the bar:
or
(4.5)
The total potential energy, , of an elastic body is the sum of its strain energy and kinetic
energy (work potential). The total potential for a general body as shown in Figure 4.2 is:
(4.6)
The coordinate of any
point in the body is given
by 2
Applied Traction, T,
which is a distributed
force per unit area, is
given by The deformation at a
point in the body is
given by
Load, P acting at any
point i is given by
The distributed force
per unit volume is
given by
The displacement of the body
where it lies on the sloped
ground is constrained, giving its
boundary condition.
Figure 4.2 Three-dimensional body
4.1.1 Principle of Virtual Work
In this section, we will look into the fundamental principle of energy methods, which is the
principle of virtual work. Other type of energy methods are basically derived from this
principle.
Recalling the basics of virtual work, it is the work done by real external forces through virtual
displacements. For a body that is in equilibrium, we know that the sum of all forces acting on
the body in all directions is zero. Given that there are virtual displacements, the sum of virtual
work done in all directions on the body is also equal to zero.
The previous paragraph states that everything equals to zero making it seems like the whole
picture is trivial. However, it is based on this seemingly trivial principle that results can be
obtained for deformable bodies. We will learn how this principle is useful through an
example.
Consider a one-dimensional bar that is fixed at x = 0 under a body force Bx and a point load,
F, at x = L, with a cross-sectional area of A(x) that varies along its length L. The stress
equilibrium of the bar, hence, can be written as:
(4.7)
where Bx is force per unit volume. The stress is assumed to be constant over the cross-
sectional area of the bar.
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Let’s say that the virtual displacement of the bar is along the length of the bar, then:
(4.8)
If the resultant axial force is termed as P, giving , then:
(4.9)
where bx is the force per unit length of the bar.
Integrating Equation (4.9) by parts gives:
(4.10)
Since u(0)=0, then because the virtual displacement of the bar should be consistent
with the boundary conditions of the bar.
Since F is applied at L then, P(L) = F. We can also write that the virtual strain due to virtual
displacement in the bar as:
(4.11)
Now, Equation (4.10) can be rewritten as:
(4.12)
We can see that from Equation (4.12), the terms on the LHS are the work done by the
external forces acting on the bar, and the term on the RHS is the work done by the resultant
internal force. We know that if the bar is in equilibrium, then the sum of external and internal
virtual work is zero.
4.1.2 Principle of Minimum Potential Energy
Say the strain energy density of the same bar is given by (refer to Equation (4.5)):
(4.13)
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If the displacement field is slightly ‘disturbed’ by , then the strain field will also be
‘disturbed’, causing variation. This variation can be expressed as:
(4.14)
Subsequently, the change in the strain energy in the bar is:
(4.15)
Next, let’s look at the potential energy (work done) of external forces. For any additional
displacement, , then the additional work due to force F would be FU(L). If we call
the potential of force V, then the change in potential due to the variation of U(L) is given by:
(4.16)
From here, we could deduce that the potential energy of external forces is the negative of
the applied external forces multiplied by the displacement at that point. The body force of the
bar is distributed throughout the domain, which means that the potential energy must
therefore be integrated over the domain. This will then give the potential energy to be:
(4.17)
Recall from principal of virtual work, , which then gives the total potential
energy, , to be:
(4.18)
Equation (4.18) simply states the Principle of Minimum Potential Energy, and it says:
The minimum value of total potential energy gives the actual displacement configurations of a
solid that is consistent with its displacement constraints and satisfies the equilibrium
equations.
Since Equation (4.18) must be satisfied for all displacement variations that is consisted with
the kinematic constraints, setting the derivative to zero allows the equilibrium to be found.
4.2 Rayleigh-Ritz Method
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When the unknown degrees of freedom is finite, whereby the exact solution is attainable, the
principle of minimum potential energy can be applied. However, this is not the case when the
unknown degrees of freedom is infinite; the solution needs to be approximated.
With Rayleigh-Ritz method, a solution is approximated by first approximating the
displacements by means of function, i.e. . In this function,
there are a number of (finite) coefficients, , that need to be determined. The best
set of coefficients (to give the best approximation to solve for displacement) in the function is
determined based on the principle of minimum potential energy. The function u(x) must
satisfy the boundary conditions for displacements.
Let’s look at the application of Rayleigh-Ritz method in solving for the displacements of a
one-dimensional bar of uniform cross-sectional area, A and length L. The left end of the bar
is fixed to a wall and a leftward concentrated force of 10 kN is acting on the bar on the right
end. A uniformly distributed load of 10 kNm-1 also acts rightward, along the length of the bar.
Given: A = 100 mm2; L = 1 m; E = 100 GPa
We start off by approximating the displacement function of degree polynomial two:
(4.19)
Note that it must satisfy the boundary condition, .Then, equation 4.19 becomes:
(4.20)
Next, we can write the expression for strain energy in the bar by integrating the strain energy
per unit length of the bar, UL, over its length:
(4.21)
Writing equation 4.21 in terms of coefficients will give:
(4.22)
And the potential energy of the forces acting on the bar can be expressed as:
(4.23)
Applying the principle of minimum potential energy, we equate the partial differential of
with respect to each coefficient to zero to find the values of the coefficients. By doing so, the
values for c1 and c2 can be found as 0 and -0.5 respectively.
Using the principle of minimum potential energy
(a) Obtain the system stiffness matrix of four spring elements depicted in
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Figure, to The vertical members at nodes 2 and 3 are to be considered rigid.
(b) Solve for the displacements and the reaction force at node 1 if k1 = 4 N/mm
k2 = 6 N/mm k3 = 3 N/mm F2 = − 30 N F3 = 0 F4 = 50 N
