Involves seeking approximate solutions to the governing partial differential equations by using an approximate (trial) polynomial series solution.


Boundary conditions:

  • Essential: or geometric, refers to displacement and rotation condition
  • Natural: refers to force and moment conditions



Steps:

  1. Assume a trial function, must satisfy essential BC. Natural BC are implicitly satisfied in the TPE derivation

  1. Derive integral equation for the TPE in terms of the variables of the problems

  1. Minimise the TPE with respect to the parameters of the trial solution

  1. Solve the resulting equations to obtain all the parameters used in the trial solution

Created with the Personal Edition of HelpNDoc: Create cross-platform Qt Help files