Finite deformation plate theory and large rigid-body motions

A refined non-linear first-order theory of multilayered anisotropic plates undergoing finite deformations is elaborated. The effects of the transverse shear and transverse normal strains, and laminated anisotropic material response are included. On the basis of this theory, a simple and efficient finite element model in conjunction with the total Lagrangian formulation and Newton-Raphson method is developed. The precise representation of large rigid-body motions in the displacement patterns of the proposed plate elements is also considered. This consideration requires the development of the strain-displacement equations of the finite deformation plate theory with regard to their consistency with the arbitrarily large rigid-body motions. The fundamental unknowns consist of six displacements and 11 strains of the face planes of the plate, and 11 stress resultants. The element characteristic arrays are obtained by using the Hu-Washizu mixed variational principle. To demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of this formulation and compare its performance with other non-linear finite element models reported in the literature, extensive numerical studies are presented.