On the equivalence of dynamic relaxation and the Newton-Raphson method

Dynamic relaxation is an iterative method to solve nonlinear systems of equations, which is frequently used for form finding and analysis of structures that undergo large displacements. It is based on the solution of a fictitious dynamic problem where the vibrations of the structure are traced by means of a time integration scheme until a static equilibrium is reached. Fictitious values are used for the mass and damping parameters. Heuristic rules exist to determine these values in such a way that the time integration procedure converges rapidly without becoming unstable. Central to these heuristic rules is the assumption that the highest convergence rate is achieved when the ratio of the highest and lowest eigenfrequency of the structure is minimal. This short communication shows that all eigenfrequencies become identical when a fictitious mass matrix proportional to the stiffness matrix is used. If, in addition, specific values are used for the fictitious damping parameters and the time integration step, the dynamic relaxation method becomes completely equivalent to the Newton-Raphson method. The Newton-Raphson method can therefore be regarded as a specific form of dynamic relaxation. This insight may help to interpret and improve nonlinear solvers based on dynamic relaxation and/or the Newton-Raphson method.