A free‐formulation‐based flat shell element for non‐linear analysis of thin composite structures

Abstract

AbstractA flat shell element based on the free‐formulation finite element concept is developed for analysing geometrically non‐linear thin composite shells. A corotational form of the updated Lagrangian formulation is utilized. Numerical results for typical validation problems are presented in order to demonstrate the accuracy and validity of this element. These results are obtained by solving the incremental equilibrium equations through the cylindrical arc‐length method.