Patent ID: 7587303
Filing Date: 2009-09-08
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented process for determining the behavior of a flexible system submitted to predetermined displacement boundary conditions, using geometrically non-linear finite element analysis, the process comprising a plurality of incremental steps within a total Lagrangian formalism with co-rotational update, said incremental steps being implemented using a computer system comprising at least one computer processor, wherein each incremental step comprises computing, using said at least one computer processor, for a finite element of the flexible system a displacement vector, having translational and rotational components, at the nodes of the finite element, by minimizing an energy of the flexible system when submitted to a fraction of the predetermined displacement; and wherein, for a given finite element, the co-rotational update comprises computing, using said at least one computer processor, an updated elementary frame of reference without considering the bending rotational components of the displacement vectors computed at the nodes of the finite element.