ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF PRISMATIC PLATE AND SHELL STRUCTURES WITH CURVED PLANFORM .1. FINITE STRIP FORMULATION

This paper deals with the linear elastic analysis of prismatic folded plate and shell structures with curved planform. The analysis is carri ed out using Mindlin-Reissner variable thickness finite strips of curv ed cross-section and the theoretical formulation is presented for a fa mily of C(0) strips. Curved plates on elastic foundations are also con sidered. Further, the interesting phenomenon of the occurrence of boun dary layers in the twisting moments and shear forces is highlighted fo r plates subjected to a common boundary condition. All the features of the curved planform strip formulation are tested using known solution s for right structures first to demonstrate that the formulation is wo rking correctly. This is done by taking a very large radius in conjunc tion with a very small appropriate subtended angle to provide the corr ect span. To further test the formulation, comparisons are provided wi th known solutions for structures with curved planform. Finally, some new solutions are presented for structures with curved planform. In a companion paper these accurate and inexpensive strips are used for str uctural shape optimization of prismatic structures with curved planfor m.