Extended Nonlinear Force Density Method for Form-Finding of Cable-Membrane Structures
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 30, Issue 3
Abstract
In this paper, an alternative approach was developed for the form-finding of cable-membrane structures. The prestress of a triangular finite element was firstly equivalent to the axial force densities and uniform vertical loads on the three edges. The static equations and tangent stiffness matrices of the cable-membrane were then formulated with the aid of the nonlinear force density method. In order to obtain a high accurate surface of cable-membrane structures, an iterative strategy was presented to solve the nonlinear force density equations and optimize the initial geometrical shape based on the Newton-Raphson method. Eventually, the proposed method was applied to the form-finding of the cable-membrane structure, a hoop truss antenna, and a numerical example was conducted to confirm the efficiency of the method.
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Acknowledgments
This project is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51375360 and U1537213).
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 30 • Issue 3 • May 2017
Copyright
©2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 5, 2016
Accepted: Sep 15, 2016
Published online: Nov 30, 2016
Discussion open until: Apr 30, 2017
Published in print: May 1, 2017
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