A stabilized 3-D co-rotational formulation for geometrically nonlinear analysis of multi-layered composite shells

This paper presents a continuum-based shear-deformable finite element formu lation for geometrically nonlinear analysis of thick layered composite shel ls. The proposed variational formulation is based on an assumed strain meth od. From a kinematical viewpoint displacements and rotations are assumed fi nite while strains are infinitesimal. The model is then cast in a co-rotati onal framework which is derived consistently from the updated Lagrangian me thod. Close relationship between the co-rotational procedure and the underl ying updated Lagrangian procedure is presented to highlight the efficiency of the method for application to composite shell analysis. Numerical exampl es are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and the range of applicability of the proposed formulation.