Nonlinear analysis of frames with curved members

This paper develops a general nonlinear analysis method for structural frames with curved members. The initial geometry is specified in a flexible manner that allows a variety of geometries to be exactly specified, and avoids any geometric modelling errors. The procedure only requires minimum discretisation of the structure as a self-adaptive procedure is used to solve the member equations. The solution technique used enables the complete load–deflection response to be calculated. The paper includes high-accuracy results for a number of examples that can serve as standard benchmarks with a clearly-defined theoretical basis.