Time comparison for the evaluation of stiffness matrix of the family of brick elements

Abstract

The past two decades researchers much attention about the bricks element using Finite element analysis(FEA). In three dimensional finite models, the coefficients of stiffness matrix have to be integrated either analytically or numerically, thus optimization of stiffness matrices and computational time for the calculation of stiffness matrices is important in finite element analysis. This paper presents a reduced integration method and an overview of formulation of stiffness for the family of brick elements such as 8-node, 20-node, 27-node and 32-node brick elements. The comparison of CPU computational time for evaluating element stiffness matrix using Gauss 3x3x3 integration method and reduced integration method is also presented.