Buckling of stiffened steel plates—a parametric study

The stability of plates stiffened with tee-shape stiffeners was investigated using a finite element model. Four series of stiffened plate panels were modeled using a finite strain four-node shell element. The model was validated using the results of tests on full-size stiffened plate specimens and was subsequently used to perform the study of various parameters presented in this paper. The parameters investigated are: the shape and magnitude of initial imperfections in the plate; residual stress magnitude and direction of applied uniform bending; plate slenderness ratio; plate aspect ratio; and plate to stiffener cross-sectional area ratio. The effect of the investigated parameters on the axial load carrying capacity and the mode of failure of stiffened plates is investigated both in the elastic and inelastic ranges. A comparison of these results with design guidelines formulated by Det norske Veritas and the American Petroleum Institute indicates that the guidelines are generally conservative for cases where initial imperfection magnitudes do not exceed the guidelines' prescribed maximum.