LOCATION VECTOR METHOD TO SOLVE THE LARGE DEFORMATION OF TRUSS STRUCTURES

A new method solving the problem of the large deformations of truss structures is presented. The method establishes the balanced equations according to the location of the equilibrium position after the deformation is complete, and uses the location vector (rather than the displacement vector) of the hinge (node) as the basic unknowns. The basic steps of the method are fundamentally the same with the existing finite element method, but the matrix formed is not the stiffness matrix. Through the development of common procedures, the method can solve the problem of the large deformations of an arbitrary truss structure. The examples show that the method can be very efficient, and the results can be very precise.