AN EULERIAN APPROACH FOR LARGE DISPLACEMENTS OF THIN SHELLS INCLUDINGGEOMETRICAL NONLINEARITIES

This paper is devoted to the problem of large displacement of shells, the only non-linearity being geometrical. The geometry of the mid-surf ace of the shell is determined thanks to the knowledge of nodes and no rmal vectors, and is continuously updated. Stresses are also carried f rom one configuration to another, which enables us to linearize the eq uilibrium equations. It is then possible to build an Eulerian formulat ion. Moreover, some control strategies are proposed, in order to find limit points and unstable solutions. Finally, we check in some classic al examples, the accuracy of this technique.