Isogeometric cable elements based on B-spline curves

Abstract

In this paper, the isogeometric cable elements based on B-spline curves are developed for the static analysis of cable structures under conservative static loads. For this, the incremental equation of cable is presented from a continuum theory by employing the total Lagrangian formulation for the geometrically non-linear analysis. The B-spline basis functions are utilized to represent the geometry of cables as well as the numerical approximation of a solution space. The h-, p- and k-refinement strategies are implemented to enrich the basis functions. Therefore, they increase the accuracy of solution fields. The penalty method is also used for the purpose of determining the initial configuration of slack cable as an alternative from-finding approach. The robustness and accuracy of the proposed elements as well as the penalty method developed by study are verified by comparing the predictions with the results given by other authors using different analytical and numerical approaches.