Nonlinear finite element analysis of laminated composite shells in hygrothermal environments

The large deflection bending behaviour of composite cylindrical shell panels subjected to hygrothermal environments is investigated in this paper. The present finite element formulation considers doubly curved thick shells and includes large deformations with Green–Lagrange strains. The analysis is carried out using quadratic eight-noded isoparametric element and the problem is solved using the incremental modified Newton–Raphson scheme. A parametric study is carried out varying the curvature ratios of composite cylindrical shell panels with simply supported and clamped support conditions.