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Some Comments on the Status of Shell Theory at the End of the 20th Century: Complaints and CorrectivesThis review is divided into complaints and correctives. Complaints are directed at: sloppy refereeing and editing; authors who fail to read or acknowledge what others have done; the mis-naming or mis-crediting of results; the misunderstanding and misuse of the Kirchhoff hypothesis; inflated claims of accuracy based on overly-simplified benchmark problems; the failure to appreciate the inherent errors in various shell models; the failure to appreciate that the physical response and mathematical structure of shell theory are fundamentally different from 3-dimensional elasticity; and the irrelevance of Cosserat-type theories. Correctives include a simple, straight-forward derivation of a general nonlinear dynamic shell theory with the following features: (1) the equations of motion and kinematics (and those of thermodynamics, if desired) are exact consequences of their 3-dimensional counterparts; (2) there are no asymptotic or series expansions through the thickness; (3) all approximations (including the Kirchhoff Hypothesis) occur in the constitutive relations; (4) in static problems, there is a mixed form of the governing equations involving a mixed-energy density and exhibiting remnants of the well-known static-geometric duality of linear theory which is numerically robust because the limiting cases of nonlinear membrane theory and inextensional bending theory fall out naturally. (These latter two special cases are known to produce numerical nightmares unless treated with great care); and (5) all equations may be expressed in coordinate-free form (although, sometimes, a hybrid form is shown to be superior).
Document ID
19980019013
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Simmonds, James G.
(Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA United States)
Date Acquired
August 17, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1998
Publication Information
Publication: Stability Analysis of Plates and Shells
Subject Category
Structural Mechanics
Report/Patent Number
AIAA Paper 97-1074
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG1-1854
CONTRACT_GRANT: DAAH04-94-G-0189
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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