RECENT ADVANCES IN THE METHOD OF FORCES - INTEGRATED FORCE METHOD OF STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS

Stress that can be induced in an elastic continuum can be determined d irectly through the simultaneous application of the equilibrium equati ons and the compatibility conditions. In the literature, this direct s tress formulation is referred to as the integrated force method. This method, which uses forces as the primary unknowns, complements the pop ular equilibrium-based stiffness method, which considers displacements as the unknowns. The integrated force method produces accurate stress , displacement, and frequency results even for modest finite element m odels. This version of the force method should be developed as an alte rnative to the stiffness method because the latter method, which has b een researched for the past several decades, may have entered its deve lopmental plateau, Stress plays a primary role in the development of a erospace and other products, and its analysis is difficult. Therefore, it is advisable to use both methods to calculate stress and eliminate errors through comparison. This paper examines the role of the integr ated force method in analysis, animation and design. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.