Static analysis of doubly-curved anisotropic shells and panels using CUF approach, differential geometry and differential quadrature method

The present paper investigates the static behavior of doubly-curved laminated composite shells and panels. A two dimensional General Higher-order Equivalent Single Layer (GHESL) approach, based on the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), is proposed. The geometry description of the middle surface of shells and panels is computed by means of differential geometry tools. All structures have been solved through the generalized differential quadrature numerical methodology. A three dimensional stress recovery procedure based on the shell equilibrium equations is used to calculate through-the-thickness quantities, such as displacements components and the strain and stress tensors. Several lamination schemes, loadings and boundary conditions are considered in the worked out applications. The numerical results are compared with the ones obtained with commercial finite element codes. New profiles, concerning displacements, strains and stresses, for doubly-curved multi-layered shell structures are presented for the first time by the authors.