Geometrically nonlinear analysis of elastic membranes with embedded rigid inclusions

In this paper the deformation of membranes containing rigid inclusions is analyzed. These rigid inclusions can significantly change the entire stress distribution in the membrane and therefore create major difficulties for the design. The initially flat membrane, which may be prestretched by boundary in-plane tractions or displacements, is subjected to externally applied loads and to the weight of the rigid inclusions. The composite system is examined in cases where its deformation reaches a state for which the undeformed and deformed shapes are substantially different. In such cases large deflections of membranes are considered, which result from nonlinear kinematic relations. The three coupled nonlinear equations in terms of the displacements governing the response of the membrane are solved using the analog equation method, which reduces the problem to the solution of three uncoupled Poisson's equations with fictitious domain source densities. The problem is strongly nonlinear [Katsikadelis JT, Nerantzaki MS. The boundary element method for nonlinear problems. Eng Anal Boundary Elements 1999;23:365–73]. In addition to the geometrical nonlinearity, the problem is itself nonlinear, since the membrane's reactions on the boundary of the rigid inclusions are not a priori known as they depend on the produced deflection surface. Iterative schemes are developed for calculation of deformed membrane's configuration, which converge to the final equilibrium state of the membrane with the given external applied loads. Several example problems are presented, which illustrate the method and demonstrate its accuracy and efficiency. The method employed for the solution is boundary only with all the advantages of the pure BEM.