AN IMPLEMENTATION OF SOLUTION STRATEGIES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX NONLINEAR EQUILIBRIUM BEHAVIOR

An implementation of solution strategies for controlling the analysis of the non-linear equilibrium behavior of elastic structures is presen ted. The automated procedure guides the solution-stepping process in t he vicinity of critical stability points, including limit points, and bifurcation points of multiplicity one or two. The procedure was devel oped for use with analysis methods in which the total potential energy of a structure is expressed as a power series of finite order in an a rbitrary number of generalized coordinates. Aspects of both the Riks-W empner arc-length control method and the equivalence-transformation me thod of Thurston are incorporated. The procedure is applied to several plate and stiffened-panel problems in order to demonstrate key featur es, and to illuminate difficulties that arise in some situations.