Developments in the Use of Cubic B-Splines in the Compound Strip Method

by R. M. Gutkowski, Colorado State Univ, Ft. Collins, United States,
C. J. Chen, Colorado State Univ, Ft. Collins, United States,
J. A. Puckett, Colorado State Univ, Ft. Collins, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Mechanics Computing in 1990's and Beyond

Abstract:

A general cubic B-spline compound strip method (BCSM) has been developed to analyze thin plates, stiffened plates, folded plates, and box-girders. In the BCSM a problem is first partially discretized to an ordinary differential equation by the finite element method. Then, the equation is solved using the Ritz-Galerkin method with unequally spaced cubic B-spline functions. The BCSM uses a special element 'strip'. The strip is described as a product of the longitudinal cubic B-spline series and conventional transverse polynomial shape functions. Incorporation of stiffening beams, column supports and bracing elements, is summarized.

Subject Headings: Spline (mathematics) | Finite element method | Structural analysis | Stiffening | Bracing | Box girders | Beam columns

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