Analysis of thin shells by the two-surface truss model .1. A general formulation

This is the first of two articles concerned with the calculation of open-type shallow shells by means of the recently-developed two-surface truss model. The paper focuses on the formulation of the numerical scheme, which had originally been developed for the analysis of convex shells with rectangular plan. The formal background to the model is outlined, and this is followed by an elaboration of the numerical technique, with emphasis on certain extensions of, and modifications to, the original scheme of computation which now facilitates the treatment of shells of arbitrary form in an automated manner. The performance of the extended numerical scheme is illustrated in the follow-up article. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.