Element library
The WELSIM application supports several types of finite elements. This section discuss the details of element that is used in the program.
Element type | Finite element type | Description |
Plane element (Shell) | Tri3 | Three node triangular element |
Plane element (Shell) | Tri6 | Six node triangular element(quadratic) |
Solid element | Tet4 | Four node tetrahedral element |
Solid element | Tet10 | Ten node tetrahedral element(quadratic) |
The element groups shown in TableĀ [tab:ch4_theory_elem_types] can be used for engineering analysis. The schematic views and the surface definition of those elements are given in FiguresĀ [fig:ch4_theory_elem_views], [fig:ch4_theory_elem_triangles], and [fig:ch4_theory_elem_tet].
![A schematic view of Tet4 and Tet10 elements. finite_element_analysis_welsim_theory_element_tet](../../../img/5_theory/ch5_element_shape.png)
![Element orientation for Tri3 and Tri6 elements. finite_element_analysis_welsim_theory_element_orientation1](../../../img/5_theory/ch5_element_orient1.png)
Surface No. | Linear | Quadratic |
1 | 1-2-3 [front] | 1-6-2-4-3-5 [front] |
2 | 3-2-1 [back] | 3-4-2-6-1-5 [back] |
![Element orientation for Tet4 and Tet10 elements. finite_element_analysis_welsim_theory_element_orientation2](../../../img/5_theory/ch5_element_orient2.png)
Surface No. | Linear | Quadratic |
1 | 1-2-3 | 1-7-2-5-3-6 |
2 | 1-2-4 | 1-7-2-9-4-8 |
3 | 2-3-4 | 2-5-3-10-4-9 |
4 | 3-1-4 | 3-6-1-10-4-8 |