Geometric nonlinear analysis of prismatic shells using the semi-analytical finite strip method

The present study sheds light on geometric nonlinear static analysis of prismatic shells using the semi-analytical finite strip method. A new computational model, which includes a fully nonlinear compound strip with a longitudinal and transverse stiffener, has been presented. Furthermore, strips with non-uniform characteristics in the longitudinal direction have been used in nonlinear analysis. This has, to the best knowledge of authors, never been reported. Also, this paper describes the design and implementation of eighteen ideal boundary conditions using three different longitudinal and six well-known transverse displacement interpolation functions.

The results of the presented study were obtained using an open-source software and multi-purpose software Abaqus. Moreover, the accuracy of the applied computational approach has been verified by comparison with results from the literature. An excellent agreement of displacement fields is achieved for large deflection analyses of plates with a hole and stiffeners as well as for shells with a stepped thickness in the longitudinal direction. Additionally, results from post-buckling analyses of thin-walled structures, a snap-through and snap-back behavior of shallow shells, are matched. The work presented here has profound implications for future studies of the finite strip deployment.