Shape Determination Problems of Structures by the Inverse Variation Principle : 3rd Report, Feasibility Study about Application to Actual Structures

Abstract

It has been shown that the Inverse Variational Shape Determination Method is a powerful tool to determine a structural shape on the basis of energy criterion subject to the constraint of the volume constancy. In this paper, the method is extended to three dimensional models and a procedure is proposed to treat the constraint easily. In numerical examples, the shape determination problems of the structures are solved under fundamental loading conditions such as tension, bending and torsion. It is shown through examples that the present method is applicable to the designing of actual structures and that it is especially effective in the case where behaviors of the structure under the applied load can not be predicted, that is, the method can be appropriately used in a preliminary design phase of a structure.