On mixed finite element methods for axisymmetric shell analysis (Q582965)

The authors have derived a new Petrov-Galerkin formulation for axisymmetric shells with shear deformation, consistently perturbing the Galerkin finite element discretization of the Hellinger-Reissner principle. Numerical tests shows that additional stability and accuracy are gained from thin to moderately thick shells. Some unstable Galerkin finite element interpolations are proved to be stable and convergent with the new approach.