HARMONIC FINITE-ELEMENT THERMOELASTIC ANALYSIS OF SPACE FRAMES AND TRUSSES

A numerical procedure is devised for the thermoelastic analysis of thr ee-dimensional frame- or truss-type space structures exposed to solar radiation. Thin-walled frame or truss members with cross sections of a rbitrary shape are considered Tension-compression, bending, shear, and torsional effects due to the temperature distribution induced by the solar radiation are all taken into account. The procedure proposed inv olves finite element discretization in the axial direction and a harmo nic analysis in the circumferential direction of each member. This pro cedure is an extension of the one employed previously to obtain the te mperature field in trusses. A multibay frame structure serves as a mod el to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. The temperat ure, displacement, and stress fields in the frame are found in various cases.