APPLICATION OF REFINED THEORY IN THE NONLINEAR-ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE LAMINATED STRUCTURES

A higher order theory for the analysis of plates and shells is present ed. The theory considers transverse shear and normal deformation and i s based on hypotheses in which nonlinearly elastic or elastoplastic be havior of the materials is included. The number and sequence of transv ersely isotropic layers are arbitrary and the layers may differ signif icantly in their physical and mechanical properties. A discrete-contin uous scheme of the finite element method are developed for the impleme ntation of the nonlinear higher order theory. In this scheme, the degr ees of freedom of the elements are independent of the number of layers . The results presented illustrate the importance of modelling both tr ansverse shear and normal deformation in the nonlinear analysis of lam inated structures.