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 formulation for geometrically nonlinear analysis of thick layered composite shells. The proposed variational formulation is based on an assumed strain method. From a kinematical viewpoint displacements and rotations are assumed finite while strains are infinitesimal. The model is then cast in a co-rotational framework which is derived consistently from the updated Lagrangian method. Close relationship between the co-rotational procedure and the underlying updated Lagrangian procedure is presented to highlight the efficiency of the method for application to composite shell analysis. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and the range of applicability of the proposed formulation.