Three-dimensional corotational framework for elasto-plastic analysis of multilayered composite shells

A continuum based layerwise shear-deformable finite element formulation is presented for elasto-plastic analysis of layered composites shells. The pro posed formulation is cast in a corotational configuration far finite deform ation analysis. The elasto-plastic constitutive equations that are based on rate-independent deviatoric plasticity are also written in the corotationa l kinematic framework. Issues of covariance and spatial invariance are! add ressed, and an appropriate stress updating strategy is proposed. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the range of applicability of the pro posed framework for bending-dominated response of elasto-plastic layered co mposite shells.