LOFTING AND FABRICATION OF COMPOUND-CURVED PLATES

The fabrication of plates with compound curvature (nonzero Gaussian cu rvature) from initially flat sheet material necessarily involves some degree of in-plane plastic strain. A basically geometric theory is pre sented for modeling and controlling this process, leading to a quantit ative description of both the strain distribution required to achieve the compounding, and the relationship between points and curves on the curved surface and the flat material. The theory thus provides accura te methods for lofting (expansion or plane development) of curved plat es, as well as quantitative control of the compounding process. Severa l methods of numerical solution are presented, with illustrative examp les.