A fully non‐linear axisymmetrical quasi‐kirchhoff‐type shell element for rubber‐like materials

An axisymmetrical shell element for large deformations is developed by using Ogden's non‐linear elastic material law. This constitutive equation, however, demands the neglect of transverse shear deformations in order to yield a consistent theory. Therefore, the theory can be applied to thin shells only. Eventually a ‘quasi‐Kirchhoff‐type theory’ emerges. Within this approach the computation of the deformed director vector d is a main assumption which is essential to describe the fully non‐linear bending behaviour. Furthermore, special attention is paid to the linearization procedure in order to obtain quadratic convergence behaviour within Newton's method. Finally, the finite element formulation for a conical two‐node element is given. Several examples show the applicability and performance of the proposed formulation.