Nonlocal static modeling of laminated composite shells using peridynamic differential operator in a higher-order shear deformation framework

This study investigates the flexural behaviour of the laminated composite shells in the framework of Higher-Order Shear Deformation Theory (HSDT) and Peridynamic Differential Operator (PDDO), namely PD-HSDT, for the first time. Laminated composite shell structures are widely used in aerospace, automotive, and marine industries due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and design flexibility. Therefore, understanding their mechanical behavior under various loading conditions is crucial for ensuring structural reliability and performance optimization. However, such structures may possess complex curvatures and highly heterogenous laminate stackings, leading to inaccurate numerical stress analyses. The HSDT successfully captures displacement and stress distributions as well as cross-sectional warping through higher-order functions exist in the kinematics. Moreover, the PDDO represents the local derivatives in their nonlocal form, making it well-suited for problems involving higher-order derivatives and discontinuities. The governing equations and boundary conditions of the HSDT are solved by using the PDDO to accurately achieve the stress and displacement fields in the laminated composite shells. The robustness of the PD-HSDT is established by considering various loading and boundary conditions. The proposed approach demonstrates high accuracy in stress and displacement predictions when validated against reference solutions available in existing literature. This indicates strong potential for extending the methodology to more complex loading scenarios and damage mechanisms in future studies.