Mechanical models in computational form finding of bending-active structures

This article reviews the different aspects involved in computational form finding of bending-active structures based on the dynamic relaxation technique. Dynamic relaxation has been applied to form-finding problems of bending-active structures in a number of references. Due to the complex nature of large spatial deformations of flexible beams, the implementation of suitable mechanical beam models in the dynamic relaxation algorithm is a non-trivial task. Type of discretization and underlying beam theory have been identified as key aspects for numerical implementations. References can be classified into two groups depending on the selected discretization: finite-difference-like and finite-element-like. The first group includes 3- and 4-degree-of-freedom implementations based on increasingly complex beam models. The second gathers 6-degree-of-freedom discretizations based on co-rotational three-dimensional Kirchhoff-Love beam elements and geometrically exact Reissner-Simo beam elements. After reviewing and comparing implementation details, the advantages and drawbacks of each group have been discussed, and open aspects for future work have been pointed out.