Kirchhoff‐Love shell theory based on Tangential Differential Calculus

Abstract

AbstractWe propose a parametrization‐free reformulation of the classical Kirchhoff‐Love shell equations in terms of tangential differential calculus. An advantage of our approach is that the surface may be defined implicitly, and the resulting shell equations and stress resultants lead to a more compact and intuitive implementation. Numerical tests are performed and it is confirmed that the obtained approach is equivalent to the classical formulation based on local coordinates.