Contribution to the nonlinear theory of multilayered composite shells featuring damaged interfaces

Based on a displacement field which: (i) accounts for an arbitrary distribu tion of the tangential displacements through the shell thickness; (ii) fulf ills a priori the continuity conditions on the transverse shear stresses at the interfaces between the layers; (iii) fulfills the zero transverse shea r conditions on the top and bottom surfaces; and (iv) allows for jumps in t he tangential displacements when interlayer slips are present, the equation s governing the geometrically nonlinear elastodynamic behavior of multilaye red composite shallow shells are derived by using the virtual work principl e. First-order and third-order shallow shells models are obtained as specia l cases. The work is an extension of the multilayered composite shallow she lls of a recently developed model for multilayered composite plates featuri ng damaged interfaces [AIM J, 35(11) (1997) 1753]. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.