ISOGEOMETRIC FE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX THIN-WALLED STRUCTURES

Isogeometric analysis, as a special field of the finite element method (FEM) which integrates geometric and finite element mesh modelling, is one of the promising directions of FEM development. The paper presents a concept of isogeometric FEM analysis of thin-walled structures based on the Kirchhoff-Love shell formulation and NURBS as basis functions. The basic properties of isogeometric shell model are briefly given by means of NURBS interpolation functions. The problem of setting up larger models that involve multiple patches and their interconnection is addressed. Academic models as well as practical models from the field of heavy construction equipment demonstrate the applicability of developed tools for static FEM analysis