A general high-order finite element formulation for shells at large strains and finite rotations

For hyperelastic shells with finite rotations and large strains a p-finite element formulation is presented accommodating general kinematic assumptions, interpolation polynomials and particularly general three-dimensional hyperelastic constitutive laws. This goal is achieved by hierarchical, high-order shell models. The tangent stiffness matrices for the hierarchical shell models are derived by computer algebra. Both non-hierarchical, nodal as well as hierarchical element shape functions are admissible. Numerical experiments show the high-order formulation to be less prone to locking effects. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.