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A three‐dimensional layer‐wise constant shear element for general anisotropic shell‐type structures
Author(s) -
Zinno Raffaele,
Barbero Ever J.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/nme.1620371407
Subject(s) - shell (structure) , anisotropy , finite element method , kinematics , element (criminal law) , computation , structural engineering , composite number , shear (geology) , geometry , materials science , engineering , mathematics , composite material , classical mechanics , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , political science , law
This paper deals with the development of a new three‐dimensional element with two‐dimensional kinematic constraints capable of analysing the mechanical behaviour of the laminated anisotropic shell‐type structures. This element, originally developed for the linear analysis of plates, is extended for the linear analysis of laminated composite shells. The element can represent arbitrarily curved shells with variable number of layers and thicknesses, including ply drop‐off problems. The element was validated in a previous work by the patch test. All the analytical details necessary to make possible the shell analysis are presented here. Examples are reported to show the capability of the element to predict the behaviour of complex structures and a refined computation of the stresses is carried out by integrating the equilibrium equations.