Topic outline

  • MEC-E1050 Finite Element Method in Solids (5cr)


    After the course: (1) Student knows the ‘divide-and-rule’ engineering paradigm for structure modelling, (2) is able to model structures as collections of solid, plate, beam and rigid parts, (3) knows the principles and concepts of FEM, (4) is able to derive element contributions of solid, plate, beam and of rigid elements, and (5) analyze simple structures and machine parts by hand calculation and the FEM software of the course.

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      Course schedule (update 21.10.2022) File PDF

      TEACHING

      Lectures on Mon (10:15-12:00) and Tue (14:15-16:00) are based on the lecture notes available in the homepage on Fri of the previous week. Lectures are recorded.

      Exercise session on Thu (14:15-16:00) is used for calculations examples by hand and FE-code of the course. Exercise sessions are recorded.

      Calculation hours 9:15-11:00 on Fri is an informal meeting for instructions, discussion, and questions on the weekly assignments. Calculation hours are not recorded.

      COURSE MATERIAL

      Course material of weeks 43-48 is published in the home page on Fri of the previous week.

      Lecture notes of weeks 43-48 for the Mon and Tue lectures contain the theory and examples related with the weekly topic.

      Modelling assignment  replaces the weekly home assignments (3,4,5) of week 43 and should be returned through the homepage before Sun 23:55 of week 43.

      Exercise problems of weeks 44-48 are published in the home page on Fri of the previous week. Exercise problems contain answers and full solutions. Some of the hand-calculation and/or Mathematica solutions are explained during the Calculation examples lecture on Thu and during Calculation hours on Fri.

      Lecture assignments of weeks 43-48 are published in the home page on Fri of the previous week. The assignments will be discussed during the last 30min of the lectures and later in the Calculation hours of Mon and Tue. Solutions should be returned on Mon and Tue 23:55 at the latest.

      Home assignments (weeks 44-48) are published in the homepage on Fri of the previous week and should be returned through the homepage before Sun 23:55 of the next week. Some of the problems are structured and contain templates to be completed, some are non-structured to be solved from scratch.

      All assignments are published and available in doc and pdf versions in the home page only. With the doc version, you may use MathType equation editor to fill the missing parts of a structured assignment or write the full solution to a non-structured assignment. Return of the solution through MyCourses should be pdf in type. Also handwriting with a paper printout (with pdf conversion in some manner) is accepted if the quality is good enough.

      Solutions to the modelling assignment, home assignments, and lecture assignments are graded so that the maximal points correspond to one correctly solved exam problem in the final grading of the course. Participation in the final exam is possible only if the points from the graded assignments exceed half of the maximal points.

      COURSE SOFTWARE

      Calculation hours on Mon and Tue use Zoom:

      https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/zoom-quick-guide

      Assignments of the course are published and returned through MyCourses. Be prepared to use an equation editor and a tool for pdf-conversion:

      https://www.dessci.com/en/  

      https://download.aalto.fi/index-en.html

      FEM solver of the course requires Mathematica software to work. Download Mathematica in good time (it may take a few days to get the license)

      https://download.aalto.fi/index-en.html

      FINAL EXAM (OPTIONS)

      Onsite exam (in Otaniemi campus) consists of five (5) problems from the set of solved example problems of the course material. In the onsite exam, you may use only the formula collection of the course. The time for the exam is 4h.

      Online exam consist of four (4) problems published and returned through MyCourses in the same manner as the assignments of the course. The problems are not as “technical” ones as those of the onsite exam and they might also require a bit modelling. The time for the exam is 4h. In the online exam, you may use any material. However, you are supposed to solve the problems by yourself.

      You may participate either the online or onsite exam. However, after passing the course, improving the grade is possible only in the onsite exam!

    • Folder icon
      Formulae (update 21.10.2022) Folder

      Formula collection of the course (pdf and docx)

      List of  elements and operations of Mathematica FE-code (pdf)

    • File icon
      Fem MEC-E1050-2022 (update 26.11.2022) File NB

      The FE-code (file) of the course is updated weekly with solutions to examples in lecture notes, exercise problems of the week, and assignments of the week. You can use the code, e.g., to check the outcome of hand calculations. To access the code:

      1. Download the Mathematica software.

      2. Download and save the file "Fem MEC-E1050-2022" (Mathematica solutions).

      3. Click on the "Fem MEC-E1050-2022" icon to start Mathematica.

      4. Open and evaluate "shift-enter" the cell for a problem to see the Mathematica solution

    • File icon
      List of points (update 08.05.2023) File PDF

      Grading of assignments, exams etc.

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      Exam 5.12.2022 results and solutions Folder


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      Exam 23.02.2023 results and solutions Folder


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      Exam 17.04.2023 results and solutions Folder