9.5 STORAGE SCHEMES FOR GLOBAL STRUCTURAL STIFFNESS MATRIX

There are several ways in which the global stiffness matrix can be stored in the computer memory.

  1. Full form: The matrix is stored in its full (natural) form. This requires large storage and running time.
  2. Upper triangular form: Since the global stiffness matrix [K] is symmetric, it is necessary to store only the elements in the upper triangle of the [K] matrix.

     

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    If N is the number of equations, this scheme requires ½ N × (N + 1) storage locations. Note that the element Kij will be found at the [1/2{j(j −1)} + i] th location.

    In other words, K(I, J) ⇒ S (L), where L = 0.5 × J × (

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