The increasing use of composite materials requires a better understanding of the behavior of laminated plates and shells. Large displacements and rotations, as well as shear deformations, must be included in the analysis. Since linear theories of shells and plates are no longer adequate for the analysis and design of composite structures, more refined theories are now used for such structures. This text develops, in a systematic manner, the overall concepts of the nonlinear analysis of shell structures. The authors start with a survey of theories for the analysis of plates and shells with small deflections and then lead to the theory of shells undergoing large deflections and rotations applicable to elastic laminated anisotropic materials. Subsequent chapters are devoted to the finite element solutions and include test case comparisons. The book is intended for graduate engineering students and stress analysts in aerospace, civil, or mechanical engineering.

The mathematical description of the properties of a shell is much more elaborate than those of beam and plate structures. Therefore many engineers and architects are unacquainted with aspects of shell behaviour and design, and are not familiar with sufficiently reliable shell theories for the different shell types as derived in the middle of the 20th century. Rather than contributing to theory development, this university textbook focuses on architectural and civil engineering schools. Of course, practising professionals will profit from it as well. The book deals with thin elastic shells, in particular with cylindrical, conical and spherical types, and with elliptic and hyperbolic paraboloids. The focus is on roofs, chimneys, pressure vessels and storage tanks. Special attention is paid to edge bending disturbance zones, which is indispensable knowledge in FE meshing. A substantial part of the book results from research efforts in the mid 20th century at Delft University of Technology. As such, it is a valuable addition to the body of shell research literature of continuing importance. This work can be used for university courses. It also shows professionals how to perform manual calculations of the main force flow in shell structures, and provides guidance for structural engineers estimating stresses and deformations.

Plate and Shell Structures: Selected Analytical and Finite Element Solutions Maria Radwañska, Anna Stankiewicz, Adam Wosatko, Jerzy Pamin Cracow University of Technology, Poland Comprehensively covers the fundamental theory and analytical and numerical solutions for different types of plate and shell structures Plate and Shell Structures: Selected Analytical and Finite Element Solutions not only provides the theoretical formulation of fundamental problems of mechanics of plates and shells, but also several examples of analytical and numerical solutions for different types of shell structures. The book contains advanced aspects related to stability analysis and a brief description of modern finite element formulations for plates and shells, including the discussion of mixed/hybrid models and locking phenomena. Key features: 52 example problems solved and illustrated by more than 200 figures, including 30 plots of finite element simulation results. Contents based on many years of research and teaching the mechanics of plates and shells to students of civil engineering and professional engineers. Provides the basis of an intermediate-level course on computational mechanics of shell structures. The book is essential reading for engineering students, university teachers, practitioners and researchers interested in the mechanics of plates and shells, as well as developers testing new simulation software.

Shell structures are widely used in the fields of civil, mechanical, architectural, aeronautical, and marine engineering. Shell technology has been enhanced by the development of new materials and prefabrication schemes. Despite the mechanical advantages and aesthetic value offered by shell structures, many engineers and architects are relatively unacquinted with shell behaviour and design. This book familiarizes the engineering and architectural student, as well as the practicing engineer and architect, with the behaviour and design aspects of shell structures. Three aspects are presented: the Physical behaviour, the structural analysis, and the design of shells in a simple, integrated, and yet concise fashion. Thus, the book contains three major aspects of shell engineering: (1) physical understanding of shell behaviour; (2) use of applied shell theories; and (3) development of design methodologies together with shell design examples. The theoretical tools required for rational analysis of shells are kept at a modest level to give a sound grasp of the fundamentals of shell behaviour and, at the same time, an understanding of the related theory, allowing it to be applied to actual design problems. To achieve a physical understanding of complex shell behaviour, quantitative presentations are supplemented by qualitative discussions so that the reader can grasp the `physical feeling' of shell behaviour. A number of analysis and detailed design examples are also worked out in various chapters, making the book a useful reference manual. This book can be used as a textbook and/or a reference book in undergraduate as well as graduate university courses in the fields of civil, mechanical, architectural, aeronautical, and materials engineering. It can also be used as a reference and design-analysis manual for the practicing engineers and architects. The text is supplemented by a number of appendices containing tables of shell analysis and design charts and tables.

The authors present a modern continuum mechanics and mathematical framework to study shell physical behaviors, and to formulate and evaluate finite element procedures. With a view towards the synergy that results from physical and mathematical understanding, the book focuses on the fundamentals of shell theories, their mathematical bases and finite element discretizations. The complexity of the physical behaviors of shells is analysed, and the difficulties to obtain uniformly optimal finite element procedures are identified and studied. Some modern finite element methods are presented for linear and nonlinear analyses. A state of the art monograph by leading experts.

*** Featuring a foreword by Pritzker Prize Winner Shigeru Ban *** Bringing together experts from research and practice, Shell Structures for Architecture: Form Finding and Optimization presents contemporary design methods for shell and gridshell structures, covering form-finding and structural optimization techniques. It introduces architecture and engineering practitioners and students to structural shells and provides computational techniques to develop complex curved structural surfaces, in the form of mathematics, computer algorithms, and design case studies. • Part I introduces the topic of shells, tracing the ancient relationship between structural form and forces, the basics of shell behaviour, and the evolution of form-finding and structural optimization techniques. • Part II familiarizes the reader with form-finding techniques to explore expressive structural geometries, covering the force density method, thrust network analysis, dynamic relaxation and particle-spring systems. • Part III focuses on shell shape and topology optimization, and provides a deeper understanding of gradient-based methods and meta-heuristic techniques. • Part IV contains precedent studies of realised shells and gridshells describing their innovative design and construction methods.

The book presents mathematical and mechanical aspects of the theory of plates and shells, applications in civil, aero-space and mechanical engineering, as well in other areas. The focus relates to the following problems:• comprehensive review of the most popular theories of plates and shells,• relations between three-dimensional theories and two-dimensional ones,• presentation of recently developed new refined plates and shells theories (for example, the micropolar theory or gradient-type theories),• modeling of coupled effects in shells and plates related to electromagnetic and temperature fields, phase transitions, diffusion, etc.,• applications in modeling of non-classical objects like, for example, nanostructures,• presentation of actual numerical tools based on the finite element approach.

BASIC APPROACH: Comprehensive -- this text explores the "full range" of finite element methods used in engineering practice for actual applications in computer-aided design. It provides not only an introduction to finite element methods and the commonality in the various techniques, but explores state-of-the-art methods as well -- with a focus on what are deemed to become "classical techniques" -- procedures that will be "standard and authoritative" for finite element analysis for years to come. FEATURES: presents in sufficient depth and breadth elementary concepts AND advanced techniques in statics, dynamics, solids, fluids, linear and nonlinear analysis. emphasizes both the physical and mathematical characteristics of procedures. presents some important mathematical conditions on finite element procedures. contains an abundance of worked-out examples and various complete program listings. includes many exercises/projects that often require the use of a computer program.

Smart structures that contain embedded piezoelectric patches are loaded by both mechanical and electrical fields. Traditional plate and shell theories were developed to analyze structures subject to mechanical loads. However, these often fail when tasked with the evaluation of both electrical and mechanical fields and loads. In recent years more advanced models have been developed that overcome these limitations. Plates and Shells for Smart Structures offers a complete guide and reference to smart structures under both mechanical and electrical loads, starting with the basic principles and working right up to the most advanced models. It provides an overview of classical plate and shell theories for piezoelectric elasticity and demonstrates their limitations in static and dynamic analysis with a number of example problems. This book also provides both analytical and finite element solutions, thus enabling the reader to compare strong and weak solutions to the problems. Key features: compares a large variety of classical and modern approaches to plates and shells, such as Kirchhoff-Love , Reissner-Mindlin assumptions and higher order, layer-wise and mixed theories introduces theories able to consider electromechanical couplings as well as those that provide appropriate interface continuity conditions for both electrical and mechanical variables considers both static and dynamic analysis accompanied by a companion website hosting dedicated software MUL2 that is used to obtain the numerical solutions in the book, allowing the reader to reproduce the examples given as well as solve problems of their own The models currently used have a wide range of applications in civil, automotive, marine and aerospace engineering. Researchers of smart structures, and structural analysts in industry, will find all they need to know in this concise reference. Graduate and postgraduate students of mechanical, civil and aerospace engineering can also use this book in their studies. www.mul2.com