Geometrically nonlinear analysis of shells by quadrilateral flat shell element with drill, shear, and warping

Abstract

Summary In this paper, a four‐node quadrilateral flat shell element is proposed for geometrically nonlinear analysis based on updated Lagrangian formulation with the co‐rotational kinematics concept. The flat shell element combines the membrane element with drilling degrees of freedom and the plate element with shear deformation. By means of these linearized elements, a simplified nonlinear analysis procedure allowing for warping of the flat shell element and large rotation is proposed. The tangent stiffness matrix and the internal force recovery are formulated in this paper. Several classic benchmark examples are presented to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed new and more proficient element for practical engineering analysis of shell structures. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.