Postbuckling analysis of composite panels with imperfection damage (Q1291834)

The authors present a formulation which can be used in developing a composite shell element and in validating the element from the consideration of a composite curved panel. The nonlinear formulation is based on the updated Lagrangian method. The shell element is capable of the small strain and large displacement analysis with finite rotations. In order to remove rigid body rotation, the authors use a co-rotational method. Subsequently, the postbuckling analysis of a curved panel with initial imperfection damage is performed to investigate the effect of the initial imperfection. The results are used to estimate the imperfection sensitivity for such panels.