The geometrically nonlinear theory of anisotropic sandwich shells faced with laminated composites

By using spline functions, a unified expression to describe various continuous or discontinuous variables in sandwich shells and laminated shells is derived. Then a general nonlinear theory of anisotropic sandwich shells faced with laminated composites is developed using the assumption of a smooth layer-wise curvilinear coordinate theta after deformation. The theory combines the global theory and the discrete-layer theory of laminated shells in view of the structural characteristics of anisotropic sandwich shells faced with laminated composites. A series of refined theories for sandwich and laminated shells can be obtained directly by simplifying the general theory.