GEOMETRIC SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS WITH ISOPARAMETRIC FINITE ELEMENTS.

This paper presents the development of several analytical relationships for use in the gradient calculations common to sensitivity analysis and configuration optimization. The methods discussed are oriented toward two- and three- dimensional continua modeled with isoparametric finite elements, and design parameters which control the geometric layout of the structure. The notable feature of these formulae is their simplicity, which leads to quick and systematic computational algorithms for most standard elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]