Proof of concept implementation in Abaqus of the 2D+ multiscale approach fornon-linear analysis of multilayered bending flat shells

Abstract

The present work upgrades the multiscale 2D+ technology in Wierna et al. 2024 for the non-linear analysis of multilayered bending flat shells within a relevant industrial Finite Elements (FE) environment. A summary of available alternatives for the multiscale analysis of multilayered bending plates and shells is provided together with a justified selection of currently implemented strategies in industrial FE codes such as Abaqus. General details of the 2D+ formulation for flat shell theory are presented together with a thorough discussion of a qualitative comparison between simulation competing alternatives based on Refined Zigzag Theory (RZT), Layerwise Theory (LWT) and Continuum Shell Elements (CSE). Representative examples of the 2D+ flat shell implementation in Abaqus are selected to show (i) stress accuracy against full 3D reference simulations, (ii) computational performance against 3D reference analysis (iii), non-intrusive character of the implementation which is fully contained at the element level (UEL programming) and (iv) capability of tackling material non-linearity. A proof of concept plugin that can be used to reproduce the stress accuracy example can be downloaded from: https://url.univ-amu.fr/2dplusexample.