Question

The first step of penalty approach is, adding a number C to the diagonal elements of the stiffness matrix. Here C is a __________

(a) Large number

(b) Positive number

(c) Real number

(d) Zero

I got this question during an internship interview.

The question is from Finite Element Equations in division One Dimensional Problems of Finite Element Method

Answer 1

Correct answer is (a) Large number

For explanation I would say: Penalty approach is one of the method to derive boundary conditions of an element or a structure. The first step is adding a large number C to the diagonal elements of the stiffness matrix. Here C is a large number.