A C0 EIGHT-NODE MEMBRANE-SHEAR-BENDING ELEMENT FOR GEOMETRICALLY NON-LINEAR (STATIC AND DYNAMIC) ANALYSIS OF LAMINATES

A new eight-node Co membrane-plate quadrilateral finite element is presented to analyse static and dynamic moderately large deflections of moderately thick laminates. The finite element is based on the Reissner- Mindlin plate theory and on previous works for the shear-bending (plate) part, which has been described in a previous paper, Reference 10. In the paper, the novelty is in the way of improving isoparametric membrane response without adding zero-energy modes, and the moderately large deflection static and dynamic analysis of laminates based on von Karmanʹs assumptions. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented in statics and in dynamics for laminates, including buckling analysis and membrane-plate coupling effects. Among a large variety of finite elements which have been proposed during the two last decades, interest in the present element lies in its simplicity implementation, its efficiency without any correction factors and spurious energy modes, and (also) the fact it is fully standard from an engineering view point.