Koiter's Thin Shells on Catmull-Clark Limit Surfaces

We present a discretization of Koiter’s model of elastic thin shells based on a finite element that employs limit surfaces of Catmull–Clark’s subdivision scheme. The discretization can directly be applied to control grids of Catmull–Clark subdivision surfaces, and, therefore, integrates modeling of Catmull–Clark subdivision surfaces with analysis and optimization of elastic thin shells. To test the discretization, we apply it to standard examples for physical simulation of thin shells and compute free vibration modes of thin shells. Furthermore, we use the discrete shell model to set up a deformation-based modeling system for Catmull–Clark subdivision surfaces. This system integrates modeling of subdivision surfaces with deformation-based modeling and allows to switch back and forth between the two different approaches to modeling.