This work considers the fitting of data points organized in a rectangular array to parametric spline surfaces. Point Based (PB) splines, a generalization of tensor product splines, are adopted. The basic idea of this paper is to fit large scale data with a tensorial B-spline surface and to refine the surface until a specified tolerance is met. Since some isolated domains exceeding tolerance may result, detail features on these domains are modeled by a tensorial B-spline basis with a finer resolution, superimposed by employing the PB-spline approach. The present method leads to an efficient model of free form surfaces, since both large scale data and local geometrical details can be efficiently fitted. Two application examples are presented. The first one concerns the fitting of a set of data points sampled from an interior car trim with a central geometrical detail. The second one refers to the modification of the tensorial B-spline surface representation of a mould in order to create a local adjustment. Considerations regarding strengths and limits of the approach then follow.

This paper presents a method to obtain the mathematical model of a free-form curve or a surface fitting a set of point coordinates by a rational B-spline (NURBS) formulation in the homogeneous R4 space. A method to evaluate the control points R4 coordinates is proposed by means of a two step process. In the first step, NURBS weights are evaluated by means of an optimization procedure making it possible to evaluate the best fitting parameterization as well. In the second step, the control point coordinates are computed by means of a linear least squares approach.

This paper presents a finite element formulation for the dynamical analysis of general double curvature laminated composite shell components, commonly used in many engineering applications. The Equivalent Single Layer theory (ESL) was successfully used to predict the dynamical response of composite laminate plates and shells. It is well known that the classic shell theory may not be effective to predict the deformational behavior with sufficient accuracy when dealing with composite shells. The effect of transverse shear deformation should be taken into account. In this paper a first order shear deformation ESL laminated shell model, adopting B-spline functions as approximation functions, is proposed and discussed. The geometry of the shell is described by means of the tensor product of B-spline functions. The displacement field is described by means of tensor product of B-spline shape functions with a different order and number of degrees of freedom with respect to the same formulation used in geometry description, resulting in a non-isoparametric formulation. A solution refinement method, making it possible to increase the order of the displacement shape functions without using the well known B-spline “degree elevation” algorithm, is also proposed. The locking effect was reduced by employing a low-order integration technique. To test the performance of the approach, the static solution of a single curvature shell and the eigensolutions of composite plates were obtained by numerical simulation and are then compared with known solutions. Discussion follows.

This paper presents a free vibration analysis of general double curvature shell structures using B-spline shape functions and a refinement technique. The shell formulation is developed following the well known Ahmad degenerate approach including the effect of the shear deformation. The formulation is not isoparametric, as a consequence the assumed displacement field is described through non-uniform B-spline functions of any degree. A solution refinement technique is considered by means of a high continuity p-method approach. The eigensolution of a plate, and of single and double curvature shells are obtained by numerical simulation to test the performance of the approach. Solutions are compared with other available analytical and numerical solutions, and discussion follows.

This paper presents a Point Based (PB) spline degenerate shell finite element model to analyze the behavior of thin and moderately thick-walled structures. Complex shapes are modeled with several B-spline patches assembled as in conventional finite element technique. The refinement of the solution is carried out by superimposing a tensorial set of B-spline functions on a patch and employing the PB-spline generalization. The domains for the numerical integration are defined by making use of the retained tensorial framework. Some numerical examples are presented. Considerations regarding strengths and limits of the approach then follow.