Abstract: This paper gives a detailed introduction to the development of a new method for numerical simulation ofwrinkled behavior of space flexible structur es. The flexible net-structur e is modeled as a network of bars with a special nonlinear constitut ive relat ionship. Based on the parametric variational principle, a mathematical programmingmethod is developed for the nonlinear analysis of the network of bars. For the analysis of t he membrane structure, anew method is developed to simulate directly the mechanic behaviors of the structure. The method is based on the finite element method with membrane elements and is constructed in terms of the corresponding constitut ive r elationship, from which t he nonlinear behavior of t he str ucture can be truly simulated. Compared with the conventionalmethods, the new method can provide a good convergence property and hence can obtain accurate predictions ofwrinkled regions/ patterns and stress dist ributions of the membrane structures. Numerical examples are presentedand illustr ate the validity and efficiency of the method proposed.

Key words: flexible structure, mathematical programming method, the finite element method