FREE FORM GENERATION FOR SHELL STRUCTURES

Prof. Dr. Vinicius F. Arcaro, UNICAMP/FEC

Abstract
This text presents a mathematical modeling to the shape
definition of shell structures through the use of
mathematical programming techniques combined with the
finite element method. It includes a total Lagrangian
description of a flexible membrane element using the Green
strain definition and assuming a linear elastic material.
The model allows the shape definition of shell structures
with any horizontal projection. The shapes are generated by
loading an initially plane flexible membrane. The model
allows the use of concentrated forces, distributed forces,
uniform pressure and also non-zero displacement
prescriptions.

Notation
The following applies unless otherwise specified or made
clear by the context. A Greek letter expresses a scalar. A
vector is always a column matrix and a lower case letter
expresses it. An upper case letter expresses a matrix.

Finite element definition

The constant strain triangle element is modified to allow
displacements orthogonal to its original plane, which is
established at the xy plane. The interpolating functions to
the displacement field on the element are given by:

u ( x, y ) = a1x + b1y + γ1

v ( x, y ) = a2x + b2y + γ 2

w ( x, y ) = a3x + b3y + γ3

The nodal displacements are numbered according to local

node numbers as shown in Figure 1.
 x9
x8
3
x3
x2 x7
x6
1 x1 x5

2 x4

Figure 1

The coefficients for the interpolating functions can be

written as:

a1 = c11x1 + c12x4 + c13x7 , b1 = c21x1 + c22x4 + c23x7

a2 = c11x2 + c12x5 + c13x8 , b2 = c21x2 + c22x5 + c23x8

a3 = c11x3 + c12x6 + c13x9 , b3 = c21x3 + c22x6 + c23x9

Where cij is an element of the matrix C. Notice that x, y

are nodal coordinates.

−1
 x1 y1 1
C =  x2 y2 1
 
 x3 y3 1

Strain components
Considering the Green strain definition, and also that the
material is homogeneous and isotropic, the strain
components can be written as:

1  ∂u  ∂w  
2 2 2
∂u  ∂v  
εxx = +   +   +   
∂x 2  ∂x   ∂x   ∂x  

1 2
εxx = a1 +
2
( a1 + a22 + a32 )

1  ∂u   ∂w  
2 2 2
∂v  ∂v 
εyy = +   +   +   
∂y 2  ∂y   ∂y   ∂y  
 
 1 2
εyy = b2 +
2
( b1 + b22 + b32 )

 ∂u ∂v ∂u   ∂u   ∂v   ∂v   ∂w   ∂w  
+ 
1
εxy =  +    +     +    
2  ∂y ∂x  ∂x   ∂y   ∂x   ∂y   ∂x   ∂y  

1
εxy = ( b1 + a2 + a1b1 + a2b2 + a3b3 )
2

Derivatives of the strain components

In the following expressions consider u, v as unit vectors
relative to x, y axis respectively.

A = [c11I c12I c13I]3x9 ⇒ a = Ax

B = [c21I c22I c23I]3x9 ⇒ b = Bx

Strain xx

1 T 1
εxx = aTu + a a = xT ATu + xT A T Ax
2 2

 (1 + a1 ) c11 
 
 a2c11 
 a3c11 
 
 (1 + a1 ) c12  c11c11I c11c12I c11c13I
∇εxx =  a2c12  , ∇ εxx = c12c11I c12c12I c12c13I
2

   
 a3c12  
c13c11I c13c12I c13c13I9x9
 (1 + a1 ) c13 
 
 a2c13 
 a3c13 
 

Strain yy

1 T 1
εyy = bTv + b b = xTBTv + xTBTBx
2 2
  b1c21 
 (1 + b2 ) c21 
 
 b3c21 
 
 b1c22  c21c21I c21c22I c21c23I
∇εyy =  (1 + b2 ) c22  , ∇ εyy = c22c21I c22c22I c22c23I
2

   
 b3c22  c c
 23 21I c c
23 22I c23 23 
c I9x9
 b1c23 
 
 (1 + b2 ) c23 
 b3c23 

Strain xy

1 T 1 T T
εxy =
2
( a v + bTu + aTb ) =
2
(x A v + xTBTu + xT ATBx )

 b1c11 + (1 + a1 ) c21 
 
a2c21 + (1 + b2 ) c11 
 a3c21 + b3c11 
 
 b1c12 + (1 + a1 ) c22 
1
∇εxy = a2c22 + (1 + b2 ) c12 
2 
 a3c22 + b3c12 
 b1c13 + (1 + a1 ) c23 
 
a2c23 + (1 + b2 ) c13 
 a3c23 + b3c13 
 

 (c11c21 + c21c11 ) I (c11c22 + c21c12 ) I (c11c23 + c21c13 ) I

1 
∇ εxy
2
= (c12c21 + c22c11 ) I (c12c22 + c22c12 ) I (c12c23 + c22c13 ) I
2
(c13c21 + c23c11 ) I (c13c22 + c23c12 ) I (c13c23 + c23c13 ) I
9x9

Constitutive relationship
A linear stress strain relationship is assumed according to
the following expression:

 σxx  1 ν 0   εxx 
  E ν 1   
 σyy  = (1 − ν ) 0 0
2
0
  εyy 
 σxy   (1 − ν )  εxy 
E is the Young’s modulus and ν is the Poisson’s ratio. The
linear stress strain relationship can be written as:

σ = Hε

Where,

 σxx  1 ν 0   εxx 
  E ν 1   
σ =  σyy  , H = 0 , ε =  εyy 
2σxy 
(1 − ν2 )  
0 0 2 (1 − ν )  εxy 

The factor 2 facilitates the construction of strain energy

density expression.

Strain energy density

The strain energy density for a linearly elastic body can
be written as:

1
ϕ =
2
( σxx εxx + σyy εyy + 2σxy εxy )
Considering the previous definition of vectors σ , ε the
strain energy density can be written as:

1 T
ϕ = εσ
2

Potential strain energy

The potential strain energy for a linearly elastic body
with a volume V can be written as:

1
φ = ∫ ε σdv
T

2 V

1
σ = Hε ⇒ φ = ∫ ε Hεdv
T

2 V

The gradient of the potential strain energy, known as the

internal forces vector, can be written as:

∂φ 1  ∂ε T ∂ε  ∂ε
= ∫   Hε + ε H  dv = ∫σ
T T
dv
∂xi 2  ∂xi  ∂xi  ∂xi
V  V
The Hessian of the potential strain energy, known as the
stiffness matrix connected to the internal forces vector,
can be written as:

∂ 2φ   ∂σ T  ∂ε  ∂2εxx ∂2εyy ∂ 2εxy 

∂xi∂xj
= ∫     + σxx
  ∂xj   ∂xi  ∂xi∂xj
+ σyy
∂xi∂xj
+ σxy
∂xi∂xj 
dv
V


∂σ ∂ε
σ = Hε ⇒ = H
∂xj ∂xj

∂ 2φ   ∂ε T  ∂ε  ∂ 2εxx ∂2εyy ∂ 2εxy 

∂xi∂xj
= ∫   H
  ∂xj  ∂x
 i
 + σxx
∂x ∂x
+ σyy
∂x ∂x
+ σxy
∂x ∂x
dv
j
V i j i j i


Uniform pressure
Considering the deformed element configuration as shown in
Figure 2 and defining ρ as the uniform pressure acting on
the element’s surface, the pressure force p acting on the
element can be written as:

ρ
p = ( b × a)
2

2
Figure 2

Notice that by establishing the element incidence to be

counter-clockwise, a positive pressure acts into the
element.
  x2 − x1 + x4 − x1   x3 − x1 + x7 − x1 
a = y2 − y1 + x5 − x2 , b =  y3 − y1 + x8 − x2 
 
   
 x6 − x3   x9 − x3 

 b2a3 − b3a2 
ρ ρ 
p = ( b × a) =  b3a1 − b1a3 
2 2
 b1a2 − b2a1 

 ∂b2 ∂a3 ∂b3 ∂a2 

 ∂x a3 + b2 ∂x − ∂x a2 − b3 ∂x 
 i i i i

∂p ρ  ∂b3 ∂a1 ∂b1 ∂a3 

=  a1 + b3 − a3 − b1
∂xi 2 ∂xi ∂xi ∂xi ∂xi 
 
 ∂b1 ∂a2 ∂b2 ∂a1 
 ∂x a2 + b1 ∂x − ∂x a1 − b2 ∂x 
 i i i i

The pressure equivalent nodal forces can be written as:

1
fT =  px py pz px py pz px py pz 
3

The stiffness matrix F connected to pressure can be written

as:

F = ∇f

 0 ( b3 − a3 ) (a2 − b2 ) 0 − b3 b2 0 a3 −a2 
 
(a3 − b3 ) 0 ( b1 − a1 ) b3 0 − b1 −a3 0 a1 
( b2 − a2 ) (a1 − b1 ) 0 − b2 b1 0 a2 −a1 0
 
0 ( b3 − a3 ) (a2 − b2 ) 0 − b3 b2 0 a3 −a2 
ρ 
F = (a3 − b3 ) 0 ( b1 − a1 ) b3 0 − b1 −a3 0 a1 
6  
( b2 − a2 ) (a1 − b1 ) 0 − b2 b1 0 a2 −a1 0
 0 ( b3 − a3 ) (a2 − b2 ) 0 − b3 b2 0 a3 −a2 
 
(a3 − b3 ) 0 ( b1 − a1 ) b3 0 − b1 −a3 0 a1 
( b − a2 ) (a1 − b1 ) 0 − b2 b1 0 a2 −a1 0 
 2

Notice that F is not symmetric and therefore a potential

energy function connected to pressure does not exist.
Equilibrium configurations
When the total potential energy function exists, the stable
equilibrium configurations correspond to local minimum
points of this function. It is advisable the use of a Quasi
Newton type method to find these local minimums because it
does not requires the evaluation of the stiffness matrix.

Considering x as the vector of unknown displacements and f

as the vector of nodal forces, the total potential energy
function and its gradient can be written as:

π (x) = ∑
elements
φ ( x ) − fTx

∇π ( x ) = ∑
elements
∇φ ( x ) − f

When the total potential energy function does not exists,

an incremental Newton-Raphson type method can be used to
find the solutions of the non-linear system of equations
given by the equilibrium equations.

r (x) = ∑
elements
∇φ ( x ) − f ( x ) = 0

Notice that in this case the evaluation of the stiffness

matrix is required. However, a close estimate of the
stiffness matrix could be evaluated through finite
differences.

Examples
Consider ρ as the uniform pressure, γ as the specific
weight, t as the thickness, ν as the Poisson’s ratio and E
as the Young’s modulus. The undeformed configuration of the
plane flexible membrane is shown in Figure 3.
 Figure 3

Loading this membrane generated the following three shapes

of shell structures. Figure 4 shows weight acting upward.
Figure 5 shows non-zero displacement prescription. Figure 6
shows uniform pressure acting outward.

In the case of minimizing the total potential energy

function, a criterion that can be used for terminating the
iterations can be written as:

∇π ( x ) ∞
≤ 10−5 ∇π (0) ∞

In the case of the incremental Newton-Raphson method, a

criterion that can be used for terminating the iterations,
on each load step, can be written as:

r (x) ∞
≤ 10−5 r ( x0 )
∞

Where x0 is the starting point for the current load step.

Example 1
E = 1000.0 , ν = 0.2 , t = 1.0 , γ = −0.07 , ρ = 0.0
 Figure 4

Example 2
E = 1000.0 , ν = 0.2 , t = 1.0 , γ = 0.0 , ρ = 0.0

Figure 5

Example 3
E = 1000.0 , ν = 0.2 , t = 1.0 , γ = 0.0 , ρ = −0.07
 Figure 6

Incremental minimizing method

The similarity of shapes shown by Figures 4 and 6 suggests
the following procedure:

Define a parameterized total potential energy function as:

π ( x, µ ) = ∑
elements
φ ( x ) − µfTx

Define a parameterized system of equilibrium equations as:

r ( x, µ ) = ∑
elements
∇φ ( x ) − µf ( x )

Considering the above definitions, an incremental

minimizing method can be defined as:

x ← 0
for k ← 1,2, … , m do
begin
k
µ ←
m
while r ( x, µ ) ∞ > 10−5 r (0,1) ∞
do
begin
f ← f (x)
minimize π ( x, µ )
end
 end

Notice that the evaluation of the stiffness matrix is not

required.

Computational performance
The following tables show the computational performance on
a Pentium 4 machine (1.60 GHz).

The performance of the Limited Memory BFGS method with

examples 1 and 2 are shown in Table 1.

Table 1
Example 1 2
Iterations 393 137
CPU time (s) 1 1

The performance of the incremental Newton-Raphson method

with example 3 is shown in Table 2.

Table 2
Example 3
Load steps 1 2 10
Step Iterations
1 60 53 49
2 4 4
3 4
4 4
5 3
6 3
7 3
8 3
9 3
10 3
CPU time (s) 318 303 420

The performance of the incremental minimizing method with

example 3 is shown in Table 3. Each incremental step was
performed by the Limited Memory BFGS method.

Table 3
Example 3
Load steps 1 2 10
Step Iterations
 1 817 874 1098
2 628 755
3 663
4 587
5 568
6 538
7 509
8 493
9 476
10 458
CPU time (s) 2 4 18

Bibliography
• Gill, P. E. and Murray, W., Newton type methods for
unconstrained and linearly constrained optimization,
Mathematical Programming 7, 1974.
• Lasdon, L. S., Optimization theory for large systems,
Macmillan, New York, 1970.
• Luenberger, D. G., Linear and nonlinear programming,
second edition, Addison Wesley, Reading,
Massachusetts, 1989.
• Nocedal, J. and Wright, S. J., Numerical Optimization,
Springer-Verlag, 1999.