An introduction to the analysis of symmetric structures

✍ Scribed by R.D. Kangwai; S.D. Guest; S. Pellegrino

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 318 KB
• Volume: 71
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0045-7949
• DOI: 10.1016/s0045-7949(98)00234-x

✦ Synopsis

This paper aims to review and explain the techniques used to analyse symmetric structures subject to a general loading. After an extensive review of previous work in this ®eld, the paper introduces the most general way of describing the full symmetry properties of a structure, based on group representation theory, and shows how this approach can be used to systematically simplify a structural analysis. A technique which is better known to structural engineers, known as the Fourier method, is also presented, but it is shown that this method is a special case of the group representation theory method. For both methods the techniques that are used to block-diagonalize the full stiness matrix of a structure are presented, and it is also shown that substructuring techniques can be used so that the full stiness matrix never needs to be generated.