Modeling of Networks of Elastic Strings

This chapter deals with three dimensional networks of elastic strings. Such networks, originally introduced in [94], provide a paradigm for the much more complicated networks of beams, membranes and plates which are the central subject matter of this monograph. Many of the main ideas of this monograph can be illustrated in the relatively simple context of string networks and certain questions, such as those concerning controllability and stabilizability, can be answered more fully than is possible for the more complex structures to be considered later.