Numerical Methods for the Design and Analysis of Hybrid Structures

Hybrid structures, in general, combine different structural elements or materials. In the context of the present paper, the combination of tensile structures and elastic members (bending active elements) and its effects on the mechanical description of the design process of such structures are discussed. A von-Mises-truss example is used to elaborate the underlying problem of choosing the "correct" reference configuration and the resulting differences between the presented approaches. For lightweight hybrid structures the implications on modelling aspects as well as the structural behaviour are discussed. The developed methods are applied to a real-scale umbrella structure which is part of an on-going research project.