GEOMETRICALLY NONLINEAR-ANALYSIS OF SYMMETRICALLY LAMINATED COMPOSITE AND SANDWICH SHELLS WITH A HIGHER-ORDER THEORY AND C(0) FINITE-ELEMENTS

A C0 continuous displacement based finite element formulation of a higher-order theory for linear and geometrically non-linear analysis (which accounts for large displacements in the sense of von Karman) of symmetrically laminated composite and sandwich shells under transverse loads is presented. The displacement model accounts for non-linear and constant variation of tangential and transverse displacement components, respectively, through the shell thickness. The assumed displacement model eliminates the use of shear correction coefficients. The discrete element chosen is a nine-node quadrilateral element with nine degrees of freedom per node. The accuracy of the present formulation is then established by comparing the present results with the available analytical closed-form two-dimensional solutions, three-dimensional elasticity solutions and other finite element solutions. Some new results are generated for future comparisons to and evaluations of sandwich shells.