Abstract

The optimal design of shell structures undergoing buckling phenomena is nowadays an open problem, whose solution would provide interesting answers to both academy and industry. The main difficulty is represented by the high computational cost required for optimising a full-scale structure characterised by a relatively complex postbuckling behaviour. In this work, this topic is addressed by proposing an isogeometric solid-shell model. The equilibrium path is evaluated through a multimodal Koiter's method. The resulting postbuckling analysis turns out to be efficient and accurate, as shown by numerical examples.