Abstract
•A unified structural model for nonlinear analysis of composite shells is proposed.•The effect of different strain measures is investigated.•Results with unprecedented accuracy are provided for composite shells subjected to pinched loading, snap through and snap back phenomena.
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The structural analysis of ultra-lightweight flexible shells and membranes may require the adoption of complex nonlinear strain-displacement relations. These may be approximated and simplified in some circumstances, e.g., in the case of moderately large displacements and rotations, in some others may be not. In this paper, the effectiveness of various geometrically nonlinear strain approximations such as the von Krmn strains is investigated by making use of refined shell formulations based on the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF). Furthermore, geometrical nonlinear equations are written in a total Lagrangian framework and solved with an opportune Newton-Raphson method. Test cases include the study of shells subjected to pinched loadings, combined flexure and compression, and post-buckling including snap-through problems. It is demonstrated that full geometrically nonlinear analysis accounting for full Green-Lagrange strains shall be performed whenever displacements are higher than the order of magnitude of the thickness and if compressive loads are applied.