Engineering Structures 181 (2019) 643–652

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Determination of static and kinematic determinacy of pin-jointed assemblies T

using rigid-body displacements as primary unknown variables
Yong-Qiang Xiaa, , Nan Xiaoa, , Hua-Peng Chenb, Xiao-Qian Qiana
⁎ ⁎

a
College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
b
Engineering Research Centre of Railway Environmental Vibration and Noise, East China Jiaotong University, Jiangxi 330013, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: The traditional methods taking nodal displacements as primary unknown variables are only applicable to the
Static and kinematic determinacy determination of the static and kinematic determinacy of pin-bar assemblies. For other types of pin-jointed
Pin-jointed assemblies assemblies, such as reciprocal configurations, traditional methods are no longer valid for determining their static
Rigid-body displacements and kinematic determinacy. In order to tackle the problem, this paper proposes a new generic method by taking
Equilibrium condition
the rigid-body displacements of each element as primary unknown variables. On the basis of the ‘dislocations’
compatibility Compatibility condition
Higher-order analysis
compatibility at the articulated points in the configurations, the compatibility equations are derived and then
kinematic matrix is obtained. Meanwhile, the forces at the articulated points of the elements are also chosen as
primary unknown variables, and then the equilibrium equations at the reference point in the elements are
derived to give the associated equilibrium matrix. From matrix computations for the obtained kinematic matrix
and equilibrium matrix, the static and kinematic determinacy of the configurations can be determined.
Furthermore, the geometric nonlinearity of the articulated mechanisms is considered, and then the exact ki-
nematic governing equations and higher-order displacement compatibility conditions are established. Finally,
several numerical examples are employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed new generic method
for determining the static and kinematic determinacy. The results from the proposed method are then examined
by those from traditional methods and finite element analyses. From the results for numerical examples, the first-
order infinitesimal mechanisms occur in the planar reciprocal configurations assembled from regular triangles
and the Archimedes tiling, while the curved reciprocal configurations with the same topologies have no re-
dundant restraints and are thus geometrically stable.

1. Introduction criterion for geometric stability based on spatial analysis of compat-

In structural analyses, static and kinematic determinacy is usually
adopted for analysing mechanical behaviour of the geometrical con-
figuration of a specific structural system. On the basis of the relation-
ship between internal forces and external loads, pin-jointed assemblies
can be categorised into statically determinate systems and statically
indeterminate systems. Similarly, on the basis of the existence of rigid-
body displacements in assemblies, pin-jointed assemblies are classified
into kinematically determinate systems and kinematically in-
determinate systems [1].
In structural analyses, mechanism analysis should be carried out to
determine whether the configuration has geometrically invariant
properties. Initially, the Maxwell criterion was proposed to determine
geometrical invariability by using quantitative relationship among
nodes, bars and degrees of freedom (DOF) constraints. Latter, the
ibility matrix was proposed for mechanism analyses [2]. Compared
with the Maxwell criterion, the compatibility matrix criterion can de-
termine the geometric stability of the pin-bar assemblies more effec-
tively, but it is unable to address the issues that the configurations with
first-order infinitesimal mechanisms are stable after generating very
small displacements. Thus, several issues of pin-bar systems movement
were investigated and a tracking strategy for the movement path was
proposed in many studies such as Kumar and Pellegrino [3], Tarnai and
Szabo [4], and Lengyel and You [5]. The higher-order displacement
compatibility condition was also established in their studies. From the
principle of strain energy, Salerno [6] and Garcea et al. [7] presented a
numerical algorithm for determining the order of infinitesimal me-
chanisms. Vassart et al. [8] compared geometrical characterisation and
energetic characterisation of higher mechanisms, and found these two
methods are essentially equivalent criteria. Further, Chen [9]

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: 21612026@zju.edu.cn (Y.-Q. Xia), sholran@zju.edu.cn (N. Xiao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.12.037
Received 24 June 2018; Received in revised form 10 December 2018; Accepted 10 December 2018
Available online 24 December 2018
0141-0296/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y.-Q. Xia et al. Engineering Structures 181 (2019) 643–652

and kinematic determinacy by matrix analysis for the pin-jointed as-

semblies.
l1 i1
Research has also been undertaken to extend the traditional
y e1
i1 p methods for determining static and kinematic determinacy, and the
e1 i2(p) e2
x l2 l1
i2 compatibility equation taking planar rigid body displacements as pri-
o l2
z
mary unknown variables was established [25–27]. In these methods,
the translation compatibility at the point of intersection of body l1 and
(a) Case e12=e1 (b) Case e12=e1+e2
body l2, e.g. point i1 shown in Fig. 1(a), was considered as basic com-
Fig. 1. Connection of a reciprocal assembly. patibility condition, which is inconsistent with reciprocal configura-
tions where real compatible point is located at touching point p, as
shown in Fig. 1(b). In addition, these methods are only applicable to
distinguished the global mobility and local mobility with different or-
determining static and kinematic determinacy of planar reciprocal
ders, and derived the corresponding conditions systematically. Conse-
configurations within the same plane, and they are no longer useful for
quently, the geometrically variable configurations can be applied to
planar reciprocal frames in the space and cambered reciprocal config-
practical engineering as an adaptive deployable structure on the one
urations.
hand [10,11], and on the other hand it can be stabilised by the rational
This paper provides a new generic approach for determining static
addition of prestressing [12–14].
and kinematic determinacy of pin-jointed assemblies by matrix ana-
By simplifying the solid bar into a line (generally the bar axis, i.e.
lysis. On the basis of traditional method simplifying the solid bar into a
the line l1 along the centroid of the cross section of the bar in Fig. 1(a))
line without consideration of sectional rotation around itself centroid
and using the self-elongation of the line as the basic compatibility re-
axis, six rigid-body displacements of each element are employed as
lationship, the traditional formulation taking nodal displacements as
primary unknown variables to establish the compatibility equations
primary unknown variables can only describe the rotations of the bar
based on ‘dislocations’ compatibility at the articulated points. In the
about the y-axis and the z-axis, excluding the sectional rotation about
meantime, the forces mutually transferred at the articulated point p are
its own axis (the x-axis) because of no contribution to self-elongation of
also used as primary unknown variables to generate the equilibrium
the bar. Therefore, the displacements of arbitrary point in the section
equations at the reference point in the element. By considering geo-
are supposed to be identical with those of the centroid point of the
metric nonlinearity, the exact kinematic governing equations and
section. For the pin-bar assemblies shown in Fig. 2(a), where a node is
higher-order displacement compatibility conditions are then estab-
defined as one point jointed by relevant bars at their end points, the
lished, where the rigid body displacements are considered as primary
relative displacements between arbitrary point in the section and its
unknown variables in a similar way. Finally, numerical examples are
sectional centroid point maybe produced by section rotation around the
employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for
x-axis are ignored. However, for other pin-jointed assemblies, such as
determining static and kinematic determinacy of commonly used pin-
hinged girder assemblies (or reciprocal structures) shown in Fig. 2(b),
jointed assemblies, and the results are then compared with traditional
hinged plate assemblies shown in Fig. 2(c) and articulated solid as-
methods based on nodal displacements.
semblies shown in Fig. 2(d), the relative displacements between the
touching point and its sectional centroid point (such as the relative
displacements between the touching point p and its sectional point i1 in 2. Compatibility equations
Fig. 1(a)) can’t be ignored, i.e. the rigid body rotation of each element
around its own axis need to be considered, so traditional method taking 2.1. Displacements at a point on reference line
a line to stand for a solid bar may not be valid for mechanism analyses
of these kinds of pin-jointed assemblies. For a rigid plane element, the geometric condition describes the
The configuration of reciprocal structures has been extensively in- relationship between the displacements of the element and the dis-
vestigated in many studies [15–19]. Recently, Rizzuto investigated placements of the target point on the element. Here, the geometric
experimentally the structural behaviour of the reciprocally supported conditions under the assumption of small displacement are considered.
element lattice honeycomb domes [20]. The behaviour of connection For the unconstrained rigid body in the plane shown in Fig. 3, the
systems in reciprocal frames and mutually supported elements space rectangular coordinate system XOY is set up with the reference point O,
structure networks was also investigated [21–22]. In order to poten- which can be any point in rigid body. An arbitrary straight line through
tially apply the reciprocal structures in engineering practices, research the point O in the plane is defined as the reference line, i.e., line Oi, and
was undertaken in [23–24]. However, before practical applications, the θ is the angle between the reference line and the X-axis. As shown in
question whether this configuration has geometric invariance needs to Fig. 3, u0 and v0 represents the X-component and Y-component of the
be answered, and a generic method is required for determining static translation displacement of reference point O, respectively, and φ0

(a) A pin-bar assembly (b) A hinged girder assembly Y

lOi i
0

O X

(c) A hinged plate assembly (d) An articulated solid assembly

Fig. 3. Displacement description of an arbitrary point in reference line in the
Fig. 2. Examples of jointed assemblies. plane.

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Y.-Q. Xia et al. Engineering Structures 181 (2019) 643–652

represents the rotation of the reference line with respect to point O.

Thus, the displacements u0, v0 and φ0 can be used to describe the dis-
placements of rigid body in the plane.
According to the rigid body motion equation in [28], when dis- p 0Y
placements u0, v0 and φ0 occur in rigid body, displacements at point i e 0X
can be obtained through the distance between point i and point O (lOi). i
In the cases with only rotational displacement φ0, point i moves to point
i', and then the X-component and Y-component of the translational 0Z
displacements at point i with respect to point O are given as lOi
ui = 0 lOi sin = 0 (yi yO ) (1a)

vi = 0 lOi cos = 0 (x i xO ) (1b)

Fig. 5. Element local coordinate O¯ X¯ YZ¯ ¯ based on target point, where Ȳ -axis
Therefore, the displacement relationship between point i and the is based on the line linking points i and p.
rigid body can be expressed as
di = (BL )i0 D0 (2) 1 0 0 0 zi zO (yi yO )
where (BL )i0 = 0 1 0 (z i zO ) 0 xi xO
0 0 1 yi yO (x i xO ) 0 (5b)
di = {ui vi } T , D0 = {u 0 v0 0}
T
(3a)

1 0 (yi yO )
BL = 2.2. Displacements at a point in rigid body
0 1 xi xO (3b)
For an unconstrained space rigid body shown in Fig. 4, similarly, the From Eq. (2), the displacements at an arbitrary point on reference
rectangular coordinate O-XYZ is set up with the reference point O. line are obtained. However, the actual articulated point is not always
Then, displacements of the rigid body can be represented by three located along the reference line for commonly pin-jointed assemblies.
translational displacements of the reference point O, i.e. X-component As shown in Fig. 5, an arbitrary point p in the rigid body has a distance e
u0, Y-component v0, Z-component w0, and three rational displacements from the reference line. The line segment pi is perpendicular to the
of the rigid body with respected to point O, i.e. X-component φ0X, Y- reference line at point i. In order to obtain the displacement relation-
component φ0Y and Z-component φ0Z. In order to obtain displacements ship between point p and the rigid body, since the displacements at
at point i, line segment Oi is projected onto three coordinate planes, point i on reference line are known, it only needs the displacements at
respectively, where lX, lY and lZ are the projection lengths of Oi, as point p with respect to point i.
shown in Fig. 4. The local rectangular coordinate O¯ X¯ YZ ¯ ¯ of the element with re-
For the cases with only φ0Z, by considering the projection on the spect to the target point p is selected as shown in Fig. 5, where point i is
plane-XOY, the displacements at the point i with respected to the origin chosen as the origin Ō , the X̄ -axis is along the reference line of the rigid
point O along the X and Y directions can be expressed as body, the Ȳ -axis is based on the line linking points i and p, and the
Z̄ -axis is determined according to the right-hand rule. In this local co-
uiZ = 0Z lZ sin ZX = 0Z (yi yO ) (4a) ordinate system, the displacements at point p with respect to i can be
expressed as
viZ = 0Z lZ cos ZX = 0Z (x i xO) (4b)
p
d¯i = (N¯L )ip ¯ 0 (6)
Similarly, the Y-component ΔviX and the Z-component ΔwiX for the
cases with only φ0X as well as the Z-component ΔwiY and the X-com- where
ponent ΔuiY for the cases with only φ0Y can also be obtained.
0 0 e
Consequently, the displacement relationship between point i and the ¯ 0 = { ¯0X ¯0Y ¯0Z } T, (N¯L )ip = 0 0 0
rigid body can be obtained in the same form as Eq. (2), but di, BL, and e 0 0 (7)
D0 are defined as follows
In order to obtain the compatibility matrix in the global coordinate
di = {ui vi wi } T , D0 = { u0 v0 w0 0X 0Y 0Z }
T
(5a) system, the local element coordinate system O X Y Z is introduced, as
shown in Fig. 6(a), where point i is the local origin. Similarly, the X
Z -axis coincides with the X̄ -axis, the Y -axis is parallel to the plane-XOY
of the global coordinate system, and the Z -axis is determined by the
iX right-hand rule. The angle between the Ȳ -axis and the Y -axis is re-
presented by Euler angle α, as shown in Fig. 6(b). The angle is defined
as positive when changing from the Ȳ -axis to the Y -axis according to
0Z
lX the right-hand rule.
iY i According to the spatial geometric relations, the transformation of
YZ displacements between two sets of local coordinate systems is expressed
lY O lOi as
XY
Y D¯ = T1 D (8)
0Y
ZX
0X lZ in which
T
iZ D¯ = {u¯ v¯ w¯ ¯X ¯Y ¯Z } T , D = { u v w X Y Z} (9a)
X
R1 0 1 0 0
Fig. 4. Displacement description of an arbitrary point in reference line in the T1 = , R1 = 0 cos sin
0 R1
space. 0 sin cos (9b)

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( )

p k

e
n i n
Õ ( )

(a). Local coordinate (b). Euler angle

Fig. 6. Local element coordinate O X Y Z , where Y -axis is parallel to the plane-XOY of the global coordinate system.

where R1 is an orthogonal matrix, i.e. R1-1 = R1T . By substituting 1 1 1

Eqs. (8) and (9) into Eq. (6), gives R2 0
T2 = , R2 = 2 2 2
0 R2
p
di = R1T ( N¯L )ip R1 0 (10) 3 3 3 (14b)

As shown in Fig. 6(b), the coordinates of O (Ō ) and the point p can In the matrix R2, υ, ξ and ζ are the direction cosines between the
be defined through the configuration process. The point n is located on local and global coordinate systems, and they can be simplified for the
the Y -axis with distance e from point O . The Euler angle α can be ob- cases when the X-axis is parallel to the Z-axis.
tained as long as the coordinate of the point n is defined. From the Substituting Eq. (13) into Eq. (10) and using orthogonality of matrix
known zn = zi, coordinates of point xn and point yn can be determined. R2 leads to
Take a known point k on the X-axis and project the vector in and the di p = ( BL )ip D0 (15)
vector ik onto the plane-XOY, respectively, to generate vector iZnZ and
vector iZkZ, as shown in Fig. 7. From the geometric relations, gives in which

ykZ yiZ ( BL )ip = ( NL )ip H (16a)

x n = x nZ = x iZ e
|i z k z | (11a) 0 0 0 1 0 0
( NL )ip = R2T R1T ( N¯L )ip R1 R2 and H = 0 0 0 0 1 0
x kZ x iZ 0 0 0 0 0 1 (16b)
yn = ynZ = yiZ + e
|i z k z | (11b) Then, the displacements are calculated from Eq. (15) at point p with
respected to the point i in the global coordinate system. By using Eq.
To conveniently represent the sign of Euler angle α, the symbol (2), the geometric relationship between point p and the rigid body can
function sgn(x) is introduced, and from the trigonometric relationship be obtained from
the Euler angle α is expressed as
dp = (( BL )i0 + ( BL )ip ) D0 = ( BL )0p D0 (17)
|im|2 + |in|2 |nm|2
= sgn([im , in , ik ]) arccos As shown in Fig. 5, the geometric relationship between the point p
2 |im||in| (12)
and the rigid body in the local element coordinate system O¯ X¯ YZ
¯ ¯ can
Similar to Eq. (8), the transformation for displacements between the be directly expressed as
local element coordinate system O X Y Z and the global coordinate d¯p = (B¯L )0p D¯ 0 (18)
system O-XYZ can be given as
where
D = T2D (13)
1 0 0 0 0 e
where: (B¯L ) 0p = 0 1 0 0 0 lOi
0 0 1 e lOi 0 (19)
D = {u v w X Y Z}
T
(14a)
By using the transformation of displacements between two sets of
coordinate systems, the geometric relationship in the global coordinate
X system O-XYZ can be expressed as
nZ
dp = R2T R1T (B¯L )0p T1 T2 D0 (20)
in which the matrix R2T R1T (B¯L )0p T1 T2 is the same as ( BL ) 0p in Eq.
e (17).

2.3. Displacement compatibility for pin-jointed assemblies

iZ kZ
To derive the displacement compatibility, a pin-jointed assembly
consisting of three rigid bodies without external constraints shown in
O Fig. 8 is adopted, where lg (g = 1, 2, 3) represents the gth rigid body,
Y
and pg represents the internal articulated point on the gth rigid body.
Fig. 7. Projection of in and ik on the plane-XOY, generating iZnZ and iZkZ. The ‘dislocations’ of the node, i.e., the separation of the two rigid

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Y.-Q. Xia et al. Engineering Structures 181 (2019) 643–652

pY
p2 pX
p
e pZ
l2 i
l3 lOi
0Y
0X
0Y 0X
p3 O
p1 l1 0Z
0Z
Fig. 9. Equilibrium relationship in the local coordinate O¯ ¯ ¯.
X¯ YZ
Fig. 8. Triangular pin-jointed assembly.

̃ T2F, F̅=T1F.̃
transformation is similar to that for displacements, i.e. F=
bodies at the articulated point, are taken into account. If the articulated By using the translation, Equation (24) becomes
point is rigid, the value of the ‘dislocations’ vanishes, which can be
considered as initial compatibility conditions. By assuming h = g + 1 F¯0 = (AL )0p fp (26)
(h = 1 if g = 3), the internal node pg of the configuration needs to sa-
in which
tisfy
T
p
(BL )lgg Dlg = (BL )lphh Dlh (AL )0p = T2T T1T (A¯ L )0p R1 R2 , fp = { fpX fpY fpZ } (27)
(21)
The matrix represents that the generalised bearing reaction
(AL )0p
For the whole triangular articulated system shown in Fig. 8, the
force at the rigid body reference point O, when unit nodal force I acts
internal displacement compatibility equations irrespective of the ex-
only on the point p. By comparing Eq. (20) and using (A¯ L )0p = (B¯L ) 0p ,
ternal support constraints can be expressed as
gives (AL )0p = ((BL ) 0p )T .
(BL )lp 11 (BL )lp 21 0 Dl 1
0 (BL )lp 22 (BL )lp 2
Dl 2 =0 3.2. Static equilibrium equation for pin-jointed assemblies
3

(BL )lp 13 0 (BL )lp 3 Dl

3
3
(22) Similarly, the triangular hinge system shown in Fig. 8 is adopted
For the general case with a total of b rigid bodies, j internal hinged here. Two nodal force vectors fpg and fph are applied to the rigid body lh.
nodes and c external constraints, each rigid body has six independent By assuming fpg to be positive on lg, and then using -fpg on lh, the
displacements, thus the rigid body displacement vector D of the entire equilibrium condition of the rigid body gives
system consists of 6b variables. Each internal hinged node has three (AL )lphh fph (AL )lphg fpg = 0
internal independent ‘dislocation’ components, and c external con- (28)
straints contribute c components for external independent node ‘dis- The equilibrium equation of the whole triangular hinge system can
locations’. Therefore, there are 3j + c variables for the node ‘disloca- then be expressed as
tion’ vector d. Finally, the compatibility equations of the whole hinge
system with external restraints, associated with compatibility matrix B, (AL )lp 11 0 (AL )lp31 fp 1
can be obtained from (AL )lp 21 (AL )lp 22 0 fp =0
2
(BL ) (3j + c ) × 6b (D)6b × 1 = (d ) (3j + c ) × 1 (23) 0 (AL )lp 32 (AL )lp 33 fp 3 (29)

For a general articulated system with a total of b rigid bodies, j

3. Static equilibrium equation
internal hinged nodes, and c external constraints, a total of 3j + c un-
known variables exist in the nodal force vector f, and 6b unknown
3.1. Static equilibrium condition of an element
variables exist in the generalised support reaction vector F. Therefore,
the static equilibrium equations of the hinge system with external re-
For an articulated system, the equilibrium condition describes the
straints is written as
relationship between the nodal forces f mutually transferred by the
articulated points in the rigid body, and the generalised support reac- (AL )6b × (3j + c ) f(3j + c ) × 1 = F6b × 1 (30)
tions F at the reference point, as shown in Fig. 9.
where matrix AL is the equilibrium matrix. For the statically determi-
In the local coordinate system O¯ X¯ Y¯ Z¯ , the static equilibrium
nate structure, the nodal forces at the articulated points can be calcu-
conditions leads to
lated directly by using Eq. (30), without requiring additional compat-
F¯0 = (A¯ L )0p f¯p (24) ibility equations, and then the internal forces of the rigid body can be
further obtained.
where Due to the static-kinematic duality, the equilibrium matrix AL and
F¯0 = { F¯0X F¯0Y F¯0Z M
¯ 0X M ¯ 0Z } T , f¯p = { f¯pX f¯pY f¯pZ } T
¯ 0Y M the compatibility matrix BL are mutually transferable. They have the
(25a)
same characteristics as those for the conventional methods for the
T mechanism analysis of structural systems, in which the node displace-
1 0 0 0 0 e
ments are chosen as the primary unknown variables. From matrix
(A¯ L )0p = 0 1 0 0 0 lOi
analysis, the rank r of the matrix BL (or AL) is determined, and then the
0 0 1 e lOi 0 (25b)
number of independent displacement modes m and the number of in-
From the definition of forces in different coordinate systems, their dependent self-stress modes s is given as

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Y.-Q. Xia et al. Engineering Structures 181 (2019) 643–652

m = 6b r (31a) Similarly, the high-order geometric relationship between point p

s = 3j + c r (31b) and point i in the local coordinate system, as shown in Fig. 5, is given as
1 ¯ p ¯
According to the values of m and s, structural system configurations
p
d¯i = (N¯L )ip (NNL )i ¯3
0 + o ( 0)
2 (37)
are categorised into four groups, i.e.
where:
Group 1: if m = 0, s = 0, kinematically determinate and statically
0 0 0
determinate system.
(N¯NL )ip = e ¯0X 0 e ¯0Z
Group 2: if m = 0, s > 0, kinematically determinate and statically
0 0 0 (38)
indeterminate system.
Group 3: if m > 0, s = 0, kinematically indeterminate and statically The high-order geometric relationship is then expressed as
determinate system.
1
Group 4: if m > 0, s > 0, kinematically indeterminate and stati- di p = (BL )ip (BNL )ip D0 + o (D03)
2 (39)
cally indeterminate system.
where
By using singular value decomposition of the matrix BL (or AL), the
(BNL )ip = (NNL )ip H , (NNL )ip = R2T R1T (N¯NL )ip R1 R2 (40)
independent displacement and self-stress modes of the system is ob-
tained, which can be used to classify the structural system configura- In summary, the high-order geometric relationship between the
tions. target point p and the rigid body is given as
1
4. Higher-order displacement compatibility condition d 0p = (BL )0p (BNL )0p D0 + o (D03)
2 (41)
For planar reciprocal configurations of structural systems in space, By considering the second-order approximations of the geometric
mechanisms may appear in the systems. In order to further understand nonlinearity, from Eq. (23), the second-order compatibility equation of
the motion of the articulated mechanisms, the higher-order displace- the articulated system is now rewritten as
ment compatibility condition taking the rigid body displacement as
primary unknown variables can be established by considering the
[(BL )(3j + c ) × 6b + (BNL )(3j + c) × 6b ] D6b × 1 = d (3j + c ) × 1 (42)
geometric nonlinearity. Eq. (42) is the governing equation of the motion of the articulated
system, where BNL contains the first-order term of element displace-
4.1. Motion control equation ments D. If the configuration is a mechanism, there is a nonzero solu-
tion of D associated with the set of equations for d = 0.
As shown in Fig. 4, line Oi rotates around the origin O by φ0X, φ0Y
and φ0Z, generating the displacements at point i, including displace- 4.2. Higher-order compatibility condition
ment in the X-direction ui. In the cases when only φ0Y exists, the pro-
jection of Oi on the plane-ZOX is considered here. After rotating φ0Y Since Eq. (23) is based on small displacement assumption, for a
around the Y-axis, the angle between the projection of Oi and the Z-axis certain configuration, when independent displcacement mode number
becomes θ'YZ = θYZ + φ0Y. Thus, the displacement in the X-direction at m > 0, only the existence of the displacement D is indicated. Thus, the
point i is given as first term of the right side of Eq. (39) is zero, but the actual ‘dislocation’
uiY = lY [sin d may not necessarily be zero.
YZ (cos 0Y 1) + cos YZ sin 0Y ] (32)
The singular value decomposition (SVD) of BL gives
By using the Taylor series expansion of the trigonometric functions, SVD(BL) = VSU T . For the orthogonal matrix U={Ur∣Um}, all its sub-
Eq. (32) can be further expressed as vectors ui (i = 1, 2,…, 6b) form a complete basis of the 6b-dimensional
1 space. The rigid body displacements D can then be expressed as
uiY = (z i z 0) 2
(x i x 0) + o ( 3
0Y )
0Y
2 0Y (33) D = D (1) + D (2) = Ur r + Um m (43)
Similarly, in the cases when only φ0Z occurs, by considering the (2)
where βr and βm are the combination coefficient vectors; D = Umβm
projection of Oi on the plane-XOY, the displacement of the point i in the
is the mechanism obtained from the first-order compatibility condition.
X-direction can be obtained as
From above analysis, it can be seen that D(2) is not an exact solution,
uiZ = (yi y0 )
1 2
(x i x 0) + o ( 3 leading to βr ≠ 0. Substituting Eq. (43) into Eq. (39), yields
0Z 0Z 0Z ) (34)
2
BL (D(1) + D(2) ) + BNL (D (1) + D (2) ) = d (44)
When only φ0X exists, there is no displacement of the point i in the
(1)
X-direction. Consequently, the total displacement of point i in the X- By considering only the first-order contribution of D , that is
direction is ui = uiY + uiZ . The displacements of the point i in the Y BNL D(1) = 0 , and using BNL D(2) = BNL Um m = drem , in order to get
and Z directions can be obtained by using the same approach. d = 0, it must satisfy
By considering the displacement u0, v0, and w0 generated by the BL D(1) = BL Ur = drem (45)
r
point O itself, the high-order geometric relationship between the point i
and the rigid body can be expressed as By using SVD of BL, i.e. SVD(BL) = VSU T , yields:

1 Sr 0 UrT
di = (BL )i0 (BNL )i0 D0 + o (D03) (Vr Vs ) Ur = drem
2 (35) 0 0 UmT
r
(46)
where
Since both U and V are all orthogonal matrices, by multiplyinh VsT
0 0 0 0 0Y (x i xO ) 0Z (x i xO ) on both sides in Eq. (46), gives VsT ds = 0 . From BNL D(2) = BNL Um m ,
(BNL )i0 = 0 0 0 (yi yO ) 0 (yi yO ) yields
0X 0Z
0 0 0 0X (z i zO ) 0Y (z i zO ) 0 (36) VsT BNL Um m =0 (47)

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By transporting above equation and noting Vs={vr+1, vr+1,…,

vr+s}, Um={ur+1, ur+2,…, ur+m}, and βm={β1, β2,…, βm}, and as-
m
suming Um m = j = 1 j ur + j , Eq. (47) is rewritten as
m
T T T
m Um { j BNL (ur + j )} vi = 0
j=1 (48)

By introducing Gi = {Gi1, Gi2,..., Gim}, in which Gij = T

BNL (ur + j ) vi ,
and assuming Qi = UmT Gi , Eq. (48) now becomes
T
m Qi m =0 (49)
Fig. 11. Triangular reciprocal configuration with hinged girder types.
Eq. (49) is quadratic equations of βm, which is similar to the higher-
order compatibility conditions discussed by Kumar and Pellegrino [3].
If βm has non-zero solutions, the system has mechanism displacement.
From matrix analyses, if Qi is a positive definite matrix (or a negative to be considered. Therefore, the proposed method can generally give
definite matrix), βm has only trivial solutions, and then there are no more accurate results to the kinematic determinacy of the configura-
mechanism displacements in the system. If Qi is a semi-positive definite tion.
or semi-negative definite matrix, the quadratic equation Eq. (49) needs
to be solved by further numerical methods.
5.1.2. Static and kinematic determinacy of hinged girder assemblies
5. Numerical examples and verification studies Reciprocal configuration with hinged girder types can be divided
into planar configuration (green part in Fig. 13) and cambered con-
5.1. Comparisons with traditional methods figuration. According to the type of the articulated nodes, the cambered
reciprocal configuration can be categorised into two groups, i.e. cam-
5.1.1. Static and kinematic determinacy of pin-bar assemblies bered 2D configuration (red part in Fig. 13) with nodes shown in
As shown in Fig. 10, four types of pin-bar assemblies are adopted to Fig. 1(a) and cambered 3D configuration (Fig. 11) with nodes shown in
verify the proposed method by comparing with the traditional methods. Fig. 1(b). The proposed method is now used to determine the static and
It is assumed that mb and sb are the number of mechanism modes and kinematic determinacy of the reciprocal configuration transformed
the number of self-stress modes, respectively, and they are calculated from the triangle in Fig. 12(a) and the 36 type of Archimedes paving
from the proposed method. On the other hand, mj and sj are the number [29] in Fig. 12(b), respectively. Fig. 12 also shows the geometric di-
of mechanism modes and the number of self-stress modes, respectively, mensions of these configurations, where the coloured dots indicate the
obtained from the traditional methods. coordinates of the endpoints of the elements in the Z-direction in the
From the results shown in Fig. 10, the number of self-stress modes cambered 2D configuration. Each round bar has the identical cross-
obtained by the proposed method is the same as that from the tradi- section with a diameter of 100 mm, and the external free-ends of the
tional method (sb = sj), and there is a relation between the numbers of bars are hinged to a rigid base.
motion modes from the proposed and traditional methods, i.e. For the triangular planar reciprocal configuration in Fig. 12(a), the
mb = mj + b. This is because the proposed method considers the rota- compatibility matrix can be written as
tion of the bar around its own axis, while the traditional methods based
on nodal displacements ignore these degrees of freedom, generating the E (BL )12 E (BL )14 0 0
difference of the number of bars (b). 0 0 E (BL )24 E (BL )62
For pin-bar assemblies, the internal force of the bar is only the axial BL = E (BL )32 0 0 E (BL )63
force, and the rotation about the axis of the bar is a secondary factor E 0 0 0 0 0
and typically ignored. However, for other articulated systems, bars may 0 0 E 0 0 0
be subjected to bending moment and shear force in addition to the axial 0 0 0 0 E 0 (50)
force, thus all constraints in six directions of the element in space need
in which

(a) (b)

b=2, j=1, c=6 b=3, j=1, c=9

mb=3, sb=0 mb=3, sb=0
mj=1, sj=0 mj=0, sj=0 1
2

(c) (d)
Y
1
O 4
X

b=3, j=1, c=9 b=4, j=1, c=12

(a) Triangle (b) Archimedes paving
mb=4, sb=1 mb=4, sb=1 0.000 0.010 0.005 0.002
mj=1, sj=1 mj=0, sj=1
Fig. 12. Reciprocal configurations with hinged girder types and dimensions
Fig. 10. Pin-bar assemblies. (m).

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0 0 0.5117 Before displacement

(BL )12 = 0 0 1.9096 , (BL )14
0.5117 1.9096 0 After displacement
0 0 0.6959
= 0 0 0.7100
0.6959 0.7100 0 (51a)

0 0 1.3978
(BL )24 = 0 0 1.3979 , (BL )62
1.3978 1.3979 0
0 0 0.9629
= 0 0 0.2477 Fig. 13. Kinematic mode of planar reciprocal configuration Type 1.
0.9629 0.2477 0 (51b)

0 0 0.2669 configuration has only first-order infinitesimal mechanism displace-

(BL )32 = 0 0 0.9578 , (BL )63 ments.
0.2669 0.9578 0
0 0 1.9096
= 0 0 0.5117 5.1.3. Static and kinematic determinacy of hinged plate assemblies
1.9096 0.5117 0 (51c)
The laminar reciprocal configuration shown in Fig. 14 is a classic
From singular value decomposition, the rank of matrix BL is r = 15 articulated plate assembly where four flat plates are articulated each
and the matrices containing m = 3 mechanisms and s = 3 states of self- other. The proposed method gives results of rigid body number b = 4,
stress are hinged node number j = 8, external constraint number c = 24, rank
T
r = 24, independent displacement mode number m = 6b-r = 0, in-
0 0 0 0.8 0.2 0 0 0 0 0.4 0.4 0 0 0 0 0.1 0.2 0
Vs = 0 0 0
dependent self-stress mode number s = 3j + c-r = 24, and redundant
0.5 0.1 0 0 0 0 0.6 0.6 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0
0 0 0 0.2 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 0.9 0 constraint number 6b-3j-c = -24. From the results, the configuration is a
(52a) geometrically invariable structure, and there are 24 redundant con-
straints.

T
0.5 0.3 0 0.1 0.3 0 0.1 0.4 0 0.4 0.1 0 0.4 0 0 0 0.1 0
Um = 0.4 0.2 0 0.3 0.2 0 0 0.5 0 0.3 0.4 0 0.1 0 0 0.3 0.3 0
0.2 0.1 0 0.5 0.3 0 0.3 0.1 0 0.1 0.1 0 0.3 0.4 0 0.2 0.5 0 (52b)

Similarly, the results for the static and kinematic determinacy of 5.2. Verification of first-order method for static and kinematic determinacy
other types of configurations are summarised in Table 1. From the re-
sults, there are mechanism displacement modes (m > 0) and self-stress In order to verify the results for static and kinematic determinacy,
modes (s > 0) in the both Type 1 and Type 2 planar reciprocal con- the Archimedes paving shown in Fig. 12(b) is adopted and modelled
figurations in space. Both the number of independent displacement using ANSYS software for finite element analysis. In the finite element
modes (m) and the number of independent self-stress modes (s) are modelling, the beams have an identical solid round cross-section with
equal to the number of beam (b) of the configuration. However, the dimensions of 3 m in length and 100 mm in diameter, and they are
cambered reciprocal configurations with the same topologies are sta- modelled with Beam 189, which has 3 nodes with 6 DOFs for each
tically determinate systems (m = 0, s = 0), traditionally called stati- node. The beams have the same material properties, with modulus of
cally determinate structures. Furthermore, the Maxwell criterion is
employed for the determination and gives the results of all zero (6b-3j-
c = 0), which indicates that the Maxwell criterion is not a sufficient
condition for a configuration with geometric invariance.
Fig. 13 shows the results for the motion mode of the triangular re-
ciprocal unit in Fig. 12(a). From the results, the displacements of each
beam consist of two parts, i.e. the rotation around its own central axis
with respect to the reference line and the rotation around its Y -axis.
From the proposed high-order compatibility conditions, the eigenvalues
of matrix Qi are 0.0002, 0.0330 and 0.0425. Therefore, the matrix is
positive definite, and there is no non-zero βm that satisfies the second-
order compatibility condition in Eq. (49). Consequently, the

Table 1
Static and kinematic determinacy of reciprocal configurations.
Type Geometry Planar Cambered-2D Cambered-3D

Type 1: Triangular b=3 r = 15 r = 18 r = 18

reciprocal unit j=3 m=3 m=0 m=0
c=9 s=3 s=0 s=0
Type 2: Archimedes paving b = 12 r = 60 r = 72 r = 72
j = 18 m = 12 m=0 m=0
c = 18 s = 12 s=0 s=0
Fig. 14. Reciprocal configuration with four planes articulated each other.

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l1 l1
i1
i1
p1
p2
p1
i2
i2
l2 l2

(a) Cambered 2D configuration (b) Cambered 3D configuration

Fig. 15. Nodes of reciprocal assemblies in finite element modelling.

elasticity of 2.06 × 1011N/m2, density of 7.9 × 103kg/m3, and Poisson
ratio of 0.3. The free ends of each beam are constrained in the X ,Y, Z-
direction displacements to simulate the articulated supports. In order to
simulate the articulation between components, for the planar and
cambered 2D reciprocal configuration, as shown in Fig. 15(a), the rigid
arm i1-p1 is formed at the corresponding positions. The arm is rigidly
connected with the beam l1 at point i1 and articulated with beam l2 at
the point i2 (p2). Similarly, for the cambered 3D configuration shown in
Fig. 15(b), the rigid arms i1-p1 and i2-p2 are generated at the corre-
sponding positions, These arms are rigidly connected with beam l1 and
beam l2 at point i1 and point i2, respectively, and articulated at point p1
(p2) each other. The rigid arms are simulated with Beam 189 in ANSYS,
where the elastic modulus and the density are taken as 2 × 1050N/m2
and 7 × 10-30kg/m3, respectively. The self-weight is considered in the
Z-direction in static calculations to investigate the Z-component of
nodal displacements of the configuration.
The results show that the planar configuration can not be analysed
by finite element modelling, in contrast to the cambered 2D and cam-
bered 3D configurations. Figs. 16 and 17 show the Z-component of the
nodal displacements of the cambered 2D configuration and the cam-
bered 3D configuration subjected to self-weight, respectively. Further-
more, an attempt is made to remove a constraint on the part of the
cambered configuration. Results indicate that the configuration can not
be analysed by the finite element method due to insufficient con-
straints, once one constraint located at the position of the support or
between the components is reduced. The cambered configuration is
therefore a geometrically stable structure without redundant con-
straints, i.e. statically and kinematically determinate system. On the
other hand, the planar configuration with the same topology is a sta-
tically and kinematically indeterminate system with displacement
modes and self-stress modes. The results obtained by proposed method
are then verified.
Fig. 16. Z-component of nodal displacements (m) of cambered 2D reciprocal
configuration Type 2.
Fig. 17. Z-component of nodal displacements (m) of cambered 3D reciprocal
configuration Type 2.
5.3. Verification of higher-order compatibility condition
As shown in Fig. 14, the motion mode of planar configuration can be
obtained, and the position of the components after mechanism occurs is
taken as the initial geometric condition. From Eq. (23), the result of
m = s = 0 can be obtained, i.e., the configuration is a statically and
kinematically determinate structure. Therefore, the original planar
configuration is a transient system and can only generate mechanism
displacements with very small values, which is consistent with the
conclusion of ‘high-order immovability’ obtained from Eq. (49). From
the displacement mode of the planar configuration generated by small
displacements, the planar configuration becomes geometrically stable
cambered 2D configuration, which also shows that the planar config-
uration can only produce instantaneous displacements.
6. Conclusions
An effective method for determining the static and kinematic de-
terminacy of pin-jointed assemblies is proposed in this study. In order to
obtain generic method for determining static and kinematic determi-
nacy, the rigid-body displacements of each element are employed as
primary unknown variables for the establishment of compatibility
equations. Also the forces mutually transferred by the articulated points
of the elements are used as primary unknown variables to establish the
equilibrium equations at the reference point in the element. Then, the
static and kinematic determinacy of the configuration can be de-
termined through matrix computations such as the singular value de-
composition method. The results show that the number of motion
modes obtained by the proposed method is greater than that obtained
by traditional methods, while the numbers of self-stress modes from
both methods are the same. The reason for this is that the proposed
method considers the rotation of the bar around its own axis, giving the
results with difference of the number of bars. Therefore, the proposed
method is more generalised in analysing the kinematic determinacy of
the configuration.
The proposed method provides a useful tool for the determination of
static and kinematic determinacy of the reciprocal configurations, a
form of the hinged girder assembly. From the numerical examples, it
can be found that the first-order infinitesimal mechanisms appear in the
planar reciprocal configurations, which are transformed from regular
triangle and the Archimedes tiling. Also, the number of the independent
motion modes and the self-stress modes are equal to the number of
beams. The cambered reciprocal configurations with the same topolo-
gies belong to the category of geometric stability and have no re-
dundant restraints. Meanwhile, finite element analysis software is uti-
lised for the numerical simulations of these configurations, and the
numerical results confirm those obtained by the proposed method.

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In order to gain further understanding of the motion of the articu-
lated mechanisms, the geometric nonlinearity is considered to establish
the exact kinematic governing equations, and then the higher-order
compatibility condition is obtained. The higher-order compatibility
condition takes the rigid body displacements as the primary unknown
variables, and it has the same form as the traditional condition based on
the node displacements. The mechanism occurs in the configuration,
only if there is a non-zero solution for the combination coefficient
vectors. For general articulated systems, the combination coefficient
vectors can only be obtained by solving the set of quadratic equations
through further computational process. In order to obtain a simplified
calculation method, further research is needed.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.12.037.
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