Folding analysis of reversal arch by the tangent stiffness method

This paper presents the tangent stiffness method for 3-D geometrically nonlinear folding<br />analysis of a reversal arch. Experimental tests are conducted to verify the numerical analysis. The tangent<br />stiffness method can accurately evaluate the geometrical nonlinearity due to the element translating as a<br />rigid body, and the method can exactly handle the large rotation of the element in space. The arch in the<br />experiment is made from a thin flat bar, and it is found that the folding process of the arch may be<br />captured exactly by the numerical analysis with a model consisting of only 18 elements with the same<br />properties.