This book guides the reader into the modelling of shell structures in applications where advanced composite materials or complex biological materials must be described with great accuracy. A valuable resource for researchers, professionals and graduate students, it presents a variety of practical concepts, diagrams and numerical results.

This unique book explores both theoretical and experimental aspects of nonlinear vibrations and stability of shells and plates. It is ideal for researchers, professionals, students, and instructors. Expert researchers will find the most recent progresses in nonlinear vibrations and stability of shells and plates, including advanced problems of shells with fluid-structure interaction. Professionals will find many practical concepts, diagrams, and numerical results, useful for the design of shells and plates made of traditional and advanced materials. They will be able to understand complex phenomena such as dynamic instability, bifurcations, and chaos, without needing an extensive mathematical background. Graduate students will find (i) a complete text on nonlinear mechanics of shells and plates, collecting almost all the available theories in a simple form, (ii) an introduction to nonlinear dynamics, and (iii) the state of art on the nonlinear vibrations and stability of shells and plates, including fluid-structure interaction problems.

This e-book focuses on the vibrational and nonlinear aspects of plate and shell structure dynamics by applying the finite element model. Specifically, shell finite elements employed in the computational studies included in this book are the mixed formulation based lower order flat triangular shell finite elements. Topics in the book are covered over nine chapters, including the theoretical background for the vibration analysis of plates and shells, vibration analysis of plate structures, shells with single curvature, shells with double curvatures, and box structures (single-cell and double-cell) and the theoretical development for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of plate and shell structures. In addition to presenting the steps in the derivations of the consistent element stiffness and mass matrices, constitutive relations of elastic materials and elasto-plastic materials with isotropic strain hardening, yield criterion, return mapping, configuration and stress updating strategies, and numerical algorithms are presented and discussed. The book is a suitable reference for advanced undergraduates and post-graduate level engineering students, research engineers, and scientists working in the field of applied physics and engineering.

The contents of this book are related to composite mechanics, nonlinear plate and shell mechanics, damage mechanics, elasto-plastic mechanics, visco-elastic mechanics, piezoelectric elastic mechanics and nonlinear dynamics, which embody the combination and integration among solid mechanics, material science and nonlinear science.

Presenting recent principles of thin plate and shell theories, this book emphasizes novel analytical and numerical methods for solving linear and nonlinear plate and shell dilemmas, new theories for the design and analysis of thin plate-shell structures, and real-world numerical solutions, mechanics, and plate and shell models for engineering appli

Smart structures that contain embedded piezoelectric patches are loaded by both mechanical and electrical fields. Traditional plate and shell theories were developed to analyze structures subject to mechanical loads. However, these often fail when tasked with the evaluation of both electrical and mechanical fields and loads. In recent years more advanced models have been developed that overcome these limitations. Plates and Shells for Smart Structures offers a complete guide and reference to smart structures under both mechanical and electrical loads, starting with the basic principles and working right up to the most advanced models. It provides an overview of classical plate and shell theories for piezoelectric elasticity and demonstrates their limitations in static and dynamic analysis with a number of example problems. This book also provides both analytical and finite element solutions, thus enabling the reader to compare strong and weak solutions to the problems. Key features: compares a large variety of classical and modern approaches to plates and shells, such as Kirchhoff-Love , Reissner-Mindlin assumptions and higher order, layer-wise and mixed theories introduces theories able to consider electromechanical couplings as well as those that provide appropriate interface continuity conditions for both electrical and mechanical variables considers both static and dynamic analysis accompanied by a companion website hosting dedicated software MUL2 that is used to obtain the numerical solutions in the book, allowing the reader to reproduce the examples given as well as solve problems of their own The models currently used have a wide range of applications in civil, automotive, marine and aerospace engineering. Researchers of smart structures, and structural analysts in industry, will find all they need to know in this concise reference. Graduate and postgraduate students of mechanical, civil and aerospace engineering can also use this book in their studies. www.mul2.com

Plate and shell theories experienced a renaissance in recent years. The potentials of smart materials, the challenges of adaptive structures, the demands of thin-film technologies and more on the one hand and the availability of newly developed mathematical tools, the tremendous increase in computer facilities and the improvement of commercial software packages on the other caused a reanimation of the scientific interest. In the present book the contributions of the participants of the EUROMECH Colloquium 444 "Critical Review of the Theories of Plates and Shells and New Applications" have been collected. The aim was to discuss the common roots of different plate and shell approaches, to review the current state of the art, and to develop future lines of research. Contributions were written by scientists with civil and mechanical engineering as well as mathematical and physical background.