Comparison between Bezier and Hermite cubic interpolants in elastic spline formulations

In this paper, a comparison between two different formulations of elastic splines is made. The two methods under investigation are based on the B,zier and Hermite interpolants. The strategies have been implemented and compared using two simulation cases involving medium and large deflections of a slender element. The investigation has been carried out considering the same number of degrees of freedom, and the two approaches have been compared in terms of complexity, accuracy and robustness. Both methods have also been compared with nonlinear finite element models.