Justification of a two-dimensional nonlinear shell model of Koiter's type (Q5940180)

The aim of this paper is to give a justification of the 2D nonlinear equations of Koiter's type used for modeling nonlinear elastic shells. Using a formal asymptotic analysis of the 3D equations of nonlinear elasticity with thickness as a small parameter and assuming that the solution of these equations admits an asymptotic expansion in terms of powers of the small parameter, at first it is proven that the leading term of the expression is of order zero. Then, the main result of the paper is established, showing that the leading term satisfies ad hoc ``limit'' 2D nolinear equations that are either the ``membrane'' or the ``flexural'' equations of the theory of nonlinear elastic shells.