Deformation of thin-walled structures in assemble process with absolute nodal coordinate formulation

Abstract

The assemble precision of thin-walled structures are very important in engineering, which affects the performance of the mechanism. Large rotations are easy to occur in these structures during assembling process due to their geometric features. So it is necessary to establish a precise model of the thin-walled structure to predict its deformation. In this study, the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) method is used to describe initial curved thin-walled structure and to study the compatibility of deformation of thin-walled structures during assembling process. A four-node shell element of ANCF with 48DOFs is employed to discrete the thin-walled structure. The vector of the element elastic forces and the stiffness matrix are derived based on continuum mechanics. Static deformation tests of a cantilever plate and the modal analysis of free square plate are used to validate the formulations for the plate element of ANCF. The statics equilibrium equations are deduced and the compatibility of deformation of two thin-walled structures is investigated.