Advanced and automatic determination of initial configuration of curved shell plates for flame bending

This paper proposes an advanced optimal unfolding algorithm of curved shell plates with unstructured meshes. An unfolding algorithm was developed in authors’ previous study. The unfolding process is formulated into a constrained nonlinear programming problem on a basis of nonlinear deformation theory of plates and shells and finite element. In order to make progresses on this unfolding and to fully automate it, unstructured meshing is combined. By applying the unstructured meshing to curved shell plates, their local curvature property can be taken into account. It takes advantages in implementing computational codes for unfolding curved shell plates defined by multiple and trimmed geometrical surfaces. Consequently, such considerations enable the unfolding results to be closer to what are expected mechanically and geometrically. And finally there are samples and discussions of this advanced unfolding algorithm.