Cellular Structures of Arbitrary Plan Geometry

Abstract

A method of analysis and computer program are presented for cellular structures of constant depth with arbitrary geometry in plan view. The development is based on the finite element method. Special elements are developed to capture both the membrane and plate bending behavior of the deck and web components. The well established direct stiffness method is used for the element assembly. The structure may be subjected to a variety of force and displacement boundary conditions such as distributed dead and live loads in addition to concentrated nodal loads and prescribed nodal displacements. After solving for the unknown nodal displacements, the reactions are computed in addition to the internal forces which are output at points selected by the user.