Integrated design and analysis of structural membranes using the Isogeometric B-Rep Analysis

The proposed element formulations are applied to selected numerical examples. In a non-linear structural analysis of untrimmed and trimmed multi-patch geometries, the accuracy, robustness and applicability of the developed element formulations are demonstrated. The example of a minimal surface illustrates form-finding with the formulated elements and is assessed against analytical solutions. Additionally, the “exactness” of NURBS for geometry representation in the context of mechanically motivated structural shapes is discussed with this example.