On the numerical solution of spherically symmetric problems using the theory of a Cosserat surface (Q1820017)

A numerical solution of spherically symmetric problems is formulated by dividing the spherical region into N spherical shells and modelling each of these shells as a Cosserat surface. By coupling the motion of each of these shells with that of its neighbours we obtain a system of ordinary differential equations for functions of time only. Both the displacements and the contact stresses at the common boundaries are obtained. Specific constitutive equations are developed for linear motion of an isotropic elastic shell and the resulting mass and stiffness matrices are shown to be different from those obtained using the displacement approach and Galerkin methods. Comparison between Cosserat, Galerkin and exact solutions are shown for three examples which include both static and dynamic problems. In each of these examples, the Cosserat solution is superior to the Galerkin solution.