On modified displacement version of the non-linear theory of thin shells

We discuss the non-linear theory of thin shells expressed in terms of displacements of the shell reference surface as the only independent field variables. The formulation is based on the principle of virtual work postulated for the reference surface. In our approach: (1) the vector equilibrium equations are represented through components in the deformed contravariant surface base, and using the compatibility conditions the resulting tangential equilibrium equations are additionally simplified, (2) at the shell boundary the new scalar function of displacement derivatives is defined and new sets of four work-conjugate static and geometric boundary conditions are derived, as well as (3) for prescribed shell geometry all non-linear shell relations are generated automatically by two packages set up in Mathematica. The displacement boundary value problem and the associated homogeneous shell buckling problem are generated exactly without using any additional approximations following from errors of the constitutive equations. Both problems are extremely complex and available only in the computer memory. Such an approach allows us to account also for those a few supposedly small terms which may be critical for finding the correct buckling load of shells sensitive to imperfections. This approach is used in the accompanying paper by Opoka and Pietraszkiewicz [Opoka, S., Pietraszkiewicz, W., 2009. On refined analysis of bifurcation buckling for the axially compressed circular cylinder. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 46, 3111–3123.] to perform the refined numerical analysis of bifurcation buckling for the axially compressed circular cylinder.