A New Method for Nonlinear Structural Analysis
S. A. Burns,* K. Mueller
National Science Foundation, 97-14069

The analysis and design of some types of structures must be performed with due consideration to material and geometric nonlinearities. Typical structural elements are governed by underlying power function relationships between the dimensions of the member and its forces/stresses. Yet, when standard linearization is used, it inadequately models power function behavior. This project concerns an alternative type of linearization that has significant advantages when applied to nonlinear structural systems. It provides a higher quality approximation to the nonlinear behavior, allowing significantly larger steps to be taken in incremental methods.