ABSTRACT
Large displacement analysis of elastic structures has been extensively studied. Many researchers presented explicit algorithms for finite element analysis during the last two decades. Belytschko and Hsieh (1973), Belytschko et al. (1977) formulated the frame elements by using the traditional co-rotational approach. Belytschko and Marchertas (1974) formulated the three-dimensional plate element following a similar approach. Alternatively, Rice and Ting (1993) proposed an approach of updated geometry to develop a plane frame analysis procedure. Recently, Wang et al. (1998) formulated a general curved elastic frame element based on a convected material frame approach, and developed a general explicit algorithm for the analysis of flexible structures subjected to large geometry changes. This approach is a modification of the co-rotational approx.i mation by incorporating an adaptive convected material frame in the basic definition of the displacement vector and strain tensor.
