Nonlinear dynamic analysis of wrinkled membrane structure

PurposeThis paper studies the nonlinear dynamics of membrane structure considering wrinkling effect. The coupling between wrinkles and vibration is investigated elaborately, and new insight on the dynamics of wrinkled membrane is unveiled.Design/methodology/approachBased on the stability theory of plates and shells, the wrinkling model of the membrane structure is established. Considering the effects of wrinkling and nonlinearity, the dynamic response is calculated with NewMark method.FindingsWrinkling will impact the dynamics of the membrane structure significantly for asymmetrical tension loading cases, dynamic response of the wrinkled membrane structure can be classified into three categories: when the vibration is small, the dynamics of the wrinkled membrane structure will behave linearly, and the wrinkles will only affect the dynamic properties as initial conditions; when the vibration is relatively large, the wrinkles will interact with the vibration during the dynamic process, and the dynamics of the structure shows very complex features; when the vibration is large enough, the dynamics will be dominated by the geometric nonlinearity of large-amplitude vibration.Originality/valueIn the previous works on dynamics of wrinkled membrane structure, only the vibration modes have been studied, which means all those investigations are confined with linear vibration; little research has been conducted on the nonlinear dynamics of wrinkled membrane structure. In view of this, this paper presents an investigation of dynamic properties of membrane structure considering the wrinkling and geometric nonlinear effects. This research work presents some novel discoveries on the nonlinear dynamics of wrinkled membrane.