Koiter asymptotic analysis of folded laminated composite plates

A mixed formulation, four node, flat shell element is proposed for the geometrically nonlinear analysis of laminated composite plates. The element is based on the linear analysis of isotropic folded plates, which is then generalized for nonlinear analysis by using a corotational formulation and Koiter’s asymptotic method. Numerical results are presented for buckling and post-critical analysis. The equilibrium paths compare well with those obtained by continuation methods but at a fraction of the computational cost.