Abstract
A finite element method is programmed to analyse the nonlinear behavior of axisymmetric structures. The lst order Mindlin shell theory which takes into account the transversal shear deformation is used to formulate a conical two node element with six degrees of freedom. To evade the shear locking phenomenon which arises in Mindlin type element when the effect of shear deformation tends to zero, the reduced integration of one point Gauss Quadrature at the center of element is employed. This method is the Updated Lagrangian formulation which refers the variables to the state of the most recent iteration. The solution is searched by Newton-Raphson iteration method. The tangent matrix of this method is obtained by a finite difference method by perturbating the degrees of freedom with small values. For the moment this program is limited to the analyses of non-linear elastic problems. For structures which could have elastic stability problem, the calculation is controled by displacement.
