Approximate reanalysis based on the exact analytic expressions

The first author has recently given the exact analytic expressions of the inverse of the stiffness matrix, the nodal displacements, and the stress resultants in linear elastic structures composed of prismatic elements. For structures of constant geometry, the expressions are explicit in terms of the unimodal stiffnesses of the components of the structures. However, the expressions are intractable in their exact form due to their inordinate length. It all has to do with the number of statically determinate substructures embedded in common engineering structures. This paper describes some preliminary results obtained from approximate analysis models for the internal forces using truncated expressions that are similar in form to the exact analytic ones. The approach is illustrated with numerical examples.