Large displacement transient analysis of flexible structures

A new approach for numerical analysis of flexible space frames subjected to impact forces is presented. The method is particularly effective in the analysis of large‐amplitude vibration and dynamic stability found in extremely flexible structures. The proposed method of analysis is based on a concept of updated material frame, which allows the algorithm of handling large rotations exceeding 360° and extensions longer than 100 per cent without numerical difficulty and the need for iterations. Thus, an efficient explicit integration finite element algorithm can be adopted. The method is convenient for non‐linear and inelastic material models. The basic coding procedure is similar to the popular co‐rotational approach. Existing codes can be easily modified to solve transient dynamic problems. The modification steps necessary for the implementation are outlined in the paper. Several numerical examples are presented. Comparison with the standard co‐rotational approach and large deformation finite element formulations, such as the updated Lagrangian approach, are presented.