The multi-stability of composite shells often exhibits complex mechanical behaviors, accompanied by large deformation, strong nonlinearity and multiple equilibrium branches. We present a numerical framework for stability analysis of laminated composite shells, which is capable of efficiently computing nonlinear equilibrium paths and critical points, and effectively assessing the stability of the structure’s equilibrium. The computational framework is applied to investigate several multi-stability problems in cylindrical laminated shells. Good agreement is observed even in an “extreme” experimental case where the multi-stability is highly sensitive, and it is found that the precise approximation of the strain energy is crucial for accurate prediction of shell stability. This study is believed to provide a powerful alternative to other methods for the stability analysis and the design of advanced composite shell structures.

复合材料壳的多稳定性通常表现出复杂的机械性能，伴随着大的变形，强烈的非线性和多个平衡分支。我们提供了一种用于层合复合材料壳稳定性分析的数值框架，该框架能够有效地计算非线性平衡路径和临界点，并能够有效地评估结构平衡的稳定性。该计算框架被用于研究圆柱形叠层壳中的多个稳定性问题。即使在多重稳定性非常敏感的“极端”实验情况下，也观察到良好的一致性，并且发现应变能的精确近似对于精确预测壳的稳定性至关重要。