  This article presents original work combining a NURBS-based inverse analysis
with both kinematic and constitutive nonlinearities to recover the applied
loads and deformations of thin shell structures. The inverse formulation is
tackled by gradient-based optimization algorithms based on computed and
measured displacements at a number of discrete locations. The proposed method
allows accurately recovering the target shape of shell structures such that
instabilities due to snapping and buckling are captured. The results obtained
show good performance and applicability of the proposed algorithms to
computer-aided manufacturing of shell structures.
