Numerical continuation of bistable composite cylindrical shells

Multi-stability of thin composite structures has shown potential for morphing applications. This paper, focusing on the bistability of composite cylindrical shells, aims to gather the analytical understanding to design bistability into shells and to define and study the parameters constraining their design envelope. A classic Rayleigh-Ritz method is used in conjunction with recently developed shell models taking into account curvature effects. A path-following method is used to solve the resulting non-linear set of equilibrium equations and to explore the design space. The method, which allows the capture of multiple stable and unstable equilibrium configurations, is benchmarked against finite-element computations.