A General Method for the Geometrically Nonlinear Analysis of Structures

A method is presented which permits the geometrically nonlinear analysis of structuresundergoing arbitrarily large displacements, rotations and strains. This method is based onthe general nonlinear theory of elasticity and can be applied consistently to different types of structural elements such as beams and plates. The method has so far been implemented for two-dimensional trusses and frames. For several examples of structures with very large displacements and rotations as well as snap-through, the results which are obtained with the method are compared to exact solutions. The convergence of the method to the exact results is demonstrated.