A new bending model for composite laminated shells based on the refined zigzag theory

摘要

Abstract In this paper, a new bending model for composite laminated shells is proposed based on the refined zigzag theory. This new model is superior to the previous shell models based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) by introducing in-plane linear zigzag functions along the thickness direction, such that the shear correction coefficients can be omitted. In the present formulation, the bending equilibrium equations and boundary conditions of composite laminated shells are established by the virtual work principle. Without losing generality, Navier series solutions are used to describe the static properties of the composite laminated shells. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and performance of this new model, numerical examples are carried out to discuss the effect of the lamination schemes and geometric parameters on the static properties. In addition, the results are compared with the three-dimensional (3D) elastic theory and FSDT as well as the highly accurate theories in the literature to examine the accuracy. It is observed that the present model not only has the high accuracy of the high-order or other highly accurate models, but also has the intrinsic linear terms of the first-order models, such that it is very suitable for the future deducing finite element method to analyze the large-scale laminates with high computational efficiency. Therefore, the present new model can be a good candidate for engineering applications.