Large deflection kinematic formulations for three-dimensional framed structures

Large deflection analysis of three-dimensional space structures with rotational degrees of freedom is considerably more complex than its two-dimensional counterpart, because of the non-vectorial property of large rotations in three-dimensional space. This paper describes, refines and compares three commonly known and widely used large deflection but small strain formulations for the nonlinear kinematics of space frames. The characteristics and computational efficiencies of these formulations are detailed and numerical examples illustrating their applications and accuracy are given. The findings obtained and conclusions drawn are believed to provide the analyst for nonlinear behaviour of space structures an insight into the proficiencies of these formulations.