RESPONSE OF LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES AND SHELLS

The elastic and elastoplastic dynamic response of laminated composite plate and shell structures have been investigated using modified nine- node degenerated shell elements with assumed strain field. The effects of large strain and large displacement have been taken into account. An updated Lagrangian approach is adopted in the formulation of the in cremental form of governing equation and time marching scheme is carri ed out based on Newmark's time-integration technique. The results from the present study agree reasonably well with existing solutions. This degenerated shell element can be used to study the response of lamina ted composite plates and shells of arbitrary geometry, any lamination schemes, and elastic as well as elastoplastic with strain-hardening ma terials. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.