6th China-Japan-Korea Joint Symposium on Optimization of Structural and Mechanical Systems

June 22–25, 2010, Kyoto, Japan

Comparison of Foregoing Methods on Form-Finding of Tension Structures

Masaaki Miki1, Ken’ichi Kawaguchi2

1
Department of Engineering, the University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan, mikity@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp
2
Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo, Dr. Eng.
Tokyo, Japan, kawaken@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to compare some foregoing numerical methods for form-finding of tension structures.
Various numerical methods have already been proposed by many researchers. However, while each of them formulates a
mathematical expression to represent a self-equilibrium state, the form of them is different from each other.
As an analytical approach for form-finding, there are two types of mathematical expression to be solved. One is an
equilibrium equation based on a self-equilibrium state. The other is a stationary problem of a functional based on a
variational principle. In general, the equilibrium equations and the stationary problems of a functional are closely related
to each other.
In this paper, their related functionals are clarified for both of them, even some of them, e.g. the force density
method[1], are not related to the variational principle originally. The revealed functionals can be thought to take a minimal
number for their objective shape. The clarification helps us to understand the relation between foregoing methods and
enables us to select various non-linear computational methods instead of the original one proposed in each paper.
Additionally, in the last part of this paper, we introduce new functionals in the relation to the functional related to the
force density method. They can be considered as an extension of the force density method, and allow us to find the forms
of complex tension structures which combine cables, tension membranes and compression members. Some numerical
results by solving a stationary problem of the newly introduced functionals are also presented.

Keywords: Tension Structure, Force Density Method, Form-Finding, Functional, Variational Principle

1. Introduction
Tension structures have many advantages when we construct large spanned architecture. In general, the members of
them are light, thin and flexible, so that they usually achieve elegant forms.
Since the tension structures, such as cable-nets, suspended membranes, tensegrities, etc, are stabilized by introducing
pre-stress, they require a process in which ensures them to have a self-equilibrium state, so-called pre-stress state. While
the existence of pre-stress state relies on their form, the process is so-called “form-finding”. For this purpose, various
numerical methods have already been proposed by many researchers.
This paper compares some foregoing methods proposed in Ref. [1] to Ref. [6]. While each of them formulates a
mathematical expression to represent a self-equilibrium state, the form of them is different from each other.
As an analytical approach for form-finding, there are two types of mathematical expression to be solved. One is an
equilibrium equation based on a self-stress condition. The other is a stationary problem of a functional based on a
variational principle. In general, the equilibrium equations and the stationary problems a functional are closely related to
each other.
In Chapter 2, their related functionals are clarified for both of them, even some of them are not related to variational
principle originally. The revealed functionals can be thought to take a minimal number for their objective shapes. The
clarification helps us to understand the relation between foregoing methods, and enables us to select various non-linear
computational methods instead of the original one proposed in each paper.
From Chapter 3 to Chapter 5, some of the revealed functionals are investigated with their corresponding papers.
Additionally, in Chapter 6, we introduce new functionals which allow us to find the forms of complex tension
structures which combine cables, tension membranes and compression members.

2. Related functionals
Table 1 shows the functionals related to the foregoing methods proposed by Ref. [1] to [6]. Each method can be
considered as a method to solve the stationary problem of each functional.
For each functional, Lj denotes a function to give the length of j-th member or j-th linear element, Sj denotes a function
to give the j-th element area and wj is a weight coefficient assigned to each member or element. Since the weight
coefficients are assigned, we can obtain different forms by changing them.
 As shown in Fig. 1, functional (a) suits form-finding of prestressed cable-nets. Functional (a) is related to the force
density method (FDM) [1], and investigated in Chapter 3.
As shown in Fig. 2, both functional (b) and (c) suit form-finding of membrane structures, while some differences are
exist. Functional (b) is related to the surface stress density method (SSDM) [2], and investigated in Chapter 4. Functional
(c) is the basic functional when we consider a numerical analysis of minimal surface problem, and investigated in Chapter
5 based on Ref. [3].
As shown in Fig. 3, both functional (d) and (e) suit the form-finding of tension membrane structures which
equilibrated by the reaction forces from cables. Functional (d) is the other functional related to SSDM. With (d), we can
change the forms by changing the weight coefficients wj assigned to linear elements. On the other hand, functional (e) is
the functional proposed in Ref. [4]. With (e), we can change the forms by changing Lk , the length of the k-th cable.
As shown in Fig. 4, both functional (f) and (g) suit the form-finding of tensegrities, which consist as a combination of
tension (cable) and compression (strut) members. Functional (f) is identical with the functional proposed by Goto and
Noguchi [5]. Functional (g) is one of the functionals proposed by us [6]. For both of them, the first summation is taken for
every cable and the second, for every strut. While the first term is different from each other, both of them take the
objective length Lk as a given parameter for each strut. Fig. 5 shows another numerical result using (g).
In addition, functional (h) is the other functional proposed by us [6], which suit the form-finding of tension structures
that combine cables, membranes, and compression members, as shown in Fig. 6
Therefore, it is thus confirmed that various functionals have been used for the form-finding analysis of tension
structures. It is also pointed out that the selection of the functional has some arbitrariness.
Moreover, the functionals (g) and (h), which are proposed by us, are also confirmed as a natural extension of the
foregoing methods. These functionals are proposed as an extension of FDM. The extended force density method is
discussed in Chapter 6.

Table 1. Related functionals

Force density method[1] Minimal surface problem[2]
r 2 r r r
(a) ( x) wj L j ( x) (b) ( x) S j ( x)
j j

Surface stress density method[3]

Membrane Membrane with cables
r 2r r 2 r 2 r
(c) ( x) w j S j ( x) (d) ( x) w j L j ( x) wj S j ( x)
j j j

Minimal surface with constraint conditions[4] Form finding of tensegrity[5]

r r r r r 1 r r
(e) ( x) S j ( x) k ( Lk ( x ) Lk ) (f) ( x, λ ) k j ( L j ( x) L j )2 ( Lk ( x ) Lk )
k
j k j 2 k

Extended force density method[6]

Cables and struts Cables, membranes and struts
r r 4 r r r r 4 r 2 r r
(g) ( x, λ ) w j L j ( x) k ( Lk ( x ) Lk ) (h) ( x, λ ) w j L j ( x) w j S j ( x) k ( Lk ( x ) Lk )
j k j j k

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1. Cable-nets Figure 2. Membranes

(d) (e) (f) (g)

Figure 3. Membranes and cables Figure 4. Tensegrities
 Figure 5. Numerical results with (g) Figure 6. Numerical results with (h)

3. Force density method

3.1. Original formulation
The force density method (FDM) [1] is a well-known numerical method for form-finding of cable-nets. It was first
proposed by Linkwitz and Scheck (1973).
FDM has two special characteristics. The first one is its definition and use of a quantity called “force density”. The
second one is its linear form of equilibrium equation. Since the equilibrium condition of cables is expressed using a set of
simultaneous linear equations, we can find a form of pre-stressed cable-net by just one linear inverse computation.
The force density q j is defined by
qj nj / Lj , (1)
where nj and Lj denote the tension and the length, for j-th cable respectively, as shown in Fig. 7(a). In other words, the qj
represents a force-length ratio for each cable. Following the FDM procedure, each cable is assigned a force density as a
known parameter, while the tension and the length are unknown. Therefore, FDM usually requires ‘try and error’ or some
experience to acquire an adequate configuration of the force densities.
When the force densities are assigned and the fixed nodes and its coordinates are defined, the self-equilibrium
condition is expressed as a linear form:
r r r r r r
Dx D f x f , Dy D f y f , Dz Df z f , (2)
where D denotes the equilibrium matrix, x, y and z are the column vectors which contain the nodal coordinates of each
node. The terms with subscript f are related to the fixed nodes and those with no subscript are related to the free nodes.
Here, note that this linear form is not ‘approximated’.
In Eq. (2), the unknown variables are x, y and z. Thus we can obtain the nodal coordinates of free nodes by
r r r r r r
x D 1( D f x f ) , y D 1( D f y f ) , z D 1( D f z f ) . (3)
Once the nodal coordinates, i.e. the form of a pre-stressed cable-net, is obtained, the tension of each cable can be
calculated by Eq. (1).
With FDM, we can study the form of pre-stressed cable-nets by changing the coordinates of fixed nodes or the force
densities of cables as shown in Fig. 7(b).

(a)Force density (b)Form finding analysis with FDM

Figure 7. Force density method

3.2. Variational principle in FDM

FDM has a related functional as follows:
r 2 r
( x) w j L j ( x) , (4)
j
r
where wj is a given weight coefficient, Lj is a function to give the length, for j-th cable respectively. A row vector x
contains x, y and z coordinates of the free nodes. It can be generalized as an unknown variable vector by
r
x x1 L xn . (5)
Note that the known variables which represent the coordinates of the fixed nodes are eliminated beforehand.
Here, we point out that it has been mentioned in Ref. [1], the relation between FDM and the optimization problem of
Eq. (4), as follows:
-THEOREM 1. Each equilibrium state of an unloaded network structure with force densities qj is
identical with the net, whose sum of squared way lengths weighted by qj is minimal. - ([1] p.128)
Let us consider the stationary problem of Eq. (4). The stationary condition of Eq. (4) is given by
 r
r 2w j L j L j 0, (6)
x j

where ∇ is the gradient operator defined by

f f f
f r L , (7)
x x1 xn
which gives the direction of the steepest gradient of the function.
Let L be a function to take the coordinate of two nodes, and to give the distance between them. As shown in Fig.8 (a),
L describes two normalized vectors assigned to each node. On the other hand, let a linear member bears axial force n
and balanced with two nodal loads applied to both ends as shown in Fig. 8(b). By comparing Fig. 8(a) and (b), a self
equilibrium state of cable-nets is expressed as:
r
n j Lj 0 , (8)
j

where nj denotes the axial force of j-th member. If we substitute the definition of the force density, Eq. (1), to the general
form of equilibrium state, Eq. (8), we obtain
r
q jLj Lj 0 , (9)
j

which is an alternative form of the equilibrium condition for FDM. Therefore, since Eq. (6) and Eq. (9) are
mathematically equivalent, Eq. (4) is the functional which is related to FDM. Moreover, wj in Eq. (4) is assumed that it
plays as same role as the force density does in a form-finding analysis.
The self-equilibrium state, Eq. (8), lead us another form. Let
T
x x1 L x n (10)
be an arbitrary chosen column vector, in other words, virtual displacement. Since any inner product of Eq. (8) and
x must be 0, we obtain the principle of virtual work for the general prestressed cable-nets by
w nj Lj 0, (11)
j

where L j is the variation of the length of j-th member given by

Lj Lj x . (12)
Eq. (6) also lead us the principle of virtual work for FDM by:
w 2w j L j L j 0 , (13)
j

where w is equivalent to the variation of the functional x.

(a) L (b) Equilibrium of linear member

Figure 8. Linear member

4. Surface stress density method

4.1. Original method
The surface stress density method (SSDM) [2] is a numerical method for form-finding of membrane structures, which
was first proposed by Maurin and Motro (1999). As mentioned in Ref. [2], the key feature of SSDM, its definition of the
surface stress density, is an analogy of the definition of the force density.
Let triangular elements approximate the form of a membrane and σ describes the Cauchy stress field on each element.
For the form finding of membrane structures, an isotropic stress tensor is usually used, which is given by
σ ˆI , (14)
where I is a unit tensor on each element. If ˆ and the thickness t are uniform on each element, the following scalar is
usually called surface stress:
tˆ. (15)
Therefore, the surface stress density is defined by
 Qj j /Sj , (16)
where j and Sj denote the surface stress and the surface area of j-th element respectively.
As well as FDM does, Ref. [2] gives us no instructions to acquire an adequate configuration of the surface stress
densities. However, it can be assumed that each element is assigned one identical number in the examples of Ref. [2], as
shown in Fig. 9(a).
In Ref. [2], an equilibrium equation is derived by considering a state that such element is balanced under the three
nodal loads as shown in Fig. 9(b). However the equilibrium equation doesn’t inherit the linearity and the conciseness from
FDM. Moreover, the proposed numerical method requires an iterative computation.

(a) Form finding analysis with SSDM([2] Fig. 8) (b)Equilibrium of triangular element([2] Fig. 1)
Figure 9. Surface stress density method

4.2. Variational principle in SSDM

As well as FDM does, SSDM also has a related functional as follows:
r 2 r
( x) w j S j ( x) , (17)
j

where wj is a given weight coefficient, Sj is a function to give the surface area, for j-th triangular element respectively. The
surface is approximated by sufficient triangular elements.
Let us consider the stationary problem of Eq. (17). The stationary condition of Eq. (17) is given by
r
r 2w j S j S j 0 . (18)
x j

Let S be a function to take the coordinates of three vertices, and to give the surface area of the triangle defined by them.
In this case, S can be illustrated as shown in Fig.10 (a). On the other hand, let a triangular element bears uniform surface
stress and be balanced with three nodal loads applied to each vertex. In this case, the three nodal loads can take just
unique configuration as shown in Fig. 10(b). By comparing Fig. 10(a) and (b), a self-equilibrium state of the triangular
elements is expressed by
r
j Sj 0, (19)
j

where j denotes the surface stress of j-th element. Substituting Eq. (16) to Eq. (19), we obtain
r
QjS j S j 0 . (20)
j

Since Eq. (18) and Eq. (20) are mathematically equivalent, therefore, Eq. (17) is the functional related to SSDM.
If S j S j x , Eq. (18) also lead us the principle of virtual work for SSDM by
w 2w j S j S j 0. (21)
j

(a) S (b)Equilibrium of triangular element

Figure 10. Triangular element
5. Minimal surface
Many researchers have made remarkable contributions for the minimal surface problem, since it has been known that
the minimal surfaces and the uniform stress surfaces are identical. The numerical methods for the minimal surface
problem are usually based on the stationary condition of the functional given by
r r
( x) S j ( x) , (22)
j

which represents the total sum of element areas.

In this chapter, we start with the basic continuum mechanics based on Ref. [4] (Bletzinger and Ramm, 2001). Let us
consider a surface stress field σ , which acts on a membrane, is in self-equilibrium state, we can write the principle of
virtual work as a governing equation by
w t σ: u da 0 , (23)
a

where t denotes the uniform thickness of the membrane, u denotes the virtual displacement. If the surface stress field is
uniform and isotropic, i.e. σ ˆI , we get
w tˆ I: u da 0 . (24)
a
Thus we obtain a simple form:
w tˆ ( u )da 0 . (25)
a
Since the variation of the surface area is given by
1
S ( u )da , (26)
2 a
a well known theorem is confirmed that ‘the minimal surfaces and the uniform stress surfaces are identical’.
Discretization procedure for S 0 is summarized as follows:
Let an n-dof function represents an approximated form of the surface by
x( 1 , 2 ) ~ x ( 1 , 2 , b1 , b2 Lbn ) , (27)
~
and let the variation of x be derived from x , we obtain an n-dof virtual displacement vector:
~ ~ b1
x x ~
u x ,L M x b. (28)
b1 bn
bn
Substitute Eq. (28) into Eq. (26), we get an approximation of S by
~ 1
S ( ~x b) da . (29)
2 a

Since the operators ,L and b are independent from the operators ada and i
g i , we derive
b1 bn
1~ ~
S ( ~ x da ) b S b. (30)
2 a

~ ~ ~ ~
Here, a relation a x da 2S is used, where S denotes the surface area of the approximated form. Therefore, if S can
be calculated as a summation of each element area, the variation of Eq. (22), which is given by
r r
S j ( x) S j ( x) x , (31)
j j
~
is mathematically equivalent to S . Note that we no longer need an explicit function of ~
x but only need a function S j
for each element.

6. Extended force density method

In this chapter, we discuss form-finding of complex tension structures which consist as a combination of tension and
compression members, e.g. tensegrity. We start with FDM.
Since it has been pointed out that some difficulties arise when we apply FDM to such structures [7] [8] [9], FDM still
has a room to be extended. While FDM enables us to find the forms of prestressed cable-nets by solving just a set of
simultaneous linear equations, the equilibrium equation, i.e. Eq. (2), becomes indefinite or inconsistent, when we assign
‘minus‘ force densities to the compression members in contrast to the cables.
Thus a stationary problem of the following functional related to FDM becomes also indefinite or inconsistent:
r r 2 r
( x, λ ) w j L j ( x) . (32)
j
 Moreover, a stationary problem of the following functional, which takes objective lengths Lk for struts instead of
weight coefficients, becomes usually indefinite or inconsistent:
r r 2 r r
( x, λ ) w j L j ( x) k ( Lk ( x ) Lk ) . (33)
j k

Here, we extend FDM by considering various functionals as a generalization of eq. (32), e.g.
r r 4 r r
( x, λ ) w j L j ( x) k ( Lk ( x ) Lk ) . (34)
j k

Without the great advantage of the linear formulation of FDM, the key features of FDM are summarized as follows:
The coordinates are assigned to each fixed node as a known parameter.
Force densities q j n j / L j are assigned to each cable as a known parameter.
On the other hand, when we analyze a stationary problem of Eq. (34), the key features of the extended FDM are:
The lengths Lk are assigned to each strut as a known parameter.
Extended force densities w j n j /(4 L j 3 ) are assigned to each cable as a known parameter.
Therefore, the extended FDM can be said to be very similar to the FDM. Fig. 11 (a) shows some tensegrities which can
be found by solving a stationary problem of Eq. (34).
Furthermore, we can find the forms of complex tension structures, which combine cables, tension membranes and
compression members, by using various functionals, e.g.
r r 4 r 2 r r
( x, λ ) w j L j ( x) w j S j ( x) k ( Lk ( x ) Lk ) , (35)
j j k

where, the first summation is taken for every linear element, the second, for every triangular element, and the third, for
every strut. The forms of the cables are represented by linear elements, and the forms of the membranes are represented by
triangular elements. Fig. 11 (b) and (c) show some form-studies of such structures using Eq. (35).

(a) Tensegrities with 80 cables and 20 struts.

(b) Tensegrities with tension membranes

(c) A form-study of a suspended membrane

Figure 11. Numerical results

7. Conclusion
Comparing the foregoing numerical methods for form finding of tension structures, we showed availability of
clarification of functionals related to each method. While some methods are not related to the variational principle
originally, such as FDM and SSDM, they also have related functionals. We also introduced new functionals. They can be
considered as an extension of FDM, and allow us to find the forms of complex tension structures which combine cables,
tension membranes and compression members.

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