Behaviour of stiffened plates in offshore structures

Abstract

Tests on a series of welded stiffened plates simply supported on all four edges and subjected to the combined action of axial and lateral loads are described. The panels were tested to failure and elastic as well as ultimate load behaviour was studied. Effects of plate slenderness and different combinations of lateral and in-plane loads on ultimate load capacity were considered. Investigations include theoretical study of the test specimens using elasto-plastic finite element method. Comparisons are made between the test results and predictions based on the finite element modelling and, the accuracy of the modelling is thus established.