Review of Recent Literature on Static Analyses of Composite Shells: 2000-2010

Abstract

Laminated composite shells are frequently used in various engineering applications including aerospace, mechanical, marine, and automotive engineering. This article reviews the recent literature on the static analysis of composite shells. It follows up with the previous work published by the first author [1-4] and it is a continuation of another recent article that focused on the dynamics of composite shells [3]. This paper reviews most of the research done in recent years (2000-2010) on the static and buckling behavior (including postbuckling) of composite shells. This review is conducted with an emphasis on the analysis performed (static, buckling, postbuckling, and others), complicating effects in both material (e.g. piezoelectric) and structure (e.g. stiffened shells), and the various shell geometries (cylindrical, conical, spherical and others). Attention is also given to the theory being applied (thin, thick, 3D, nonlinear …). However, more details regarding the theories have been described in previous work [1,3].