Analysis of plate reinforced by straight and curved stiffeners by using novel plate elements with refined through-the-thickness expansion

Abstract

In this paper, two-dimensional (2D) structural models are used to analyze thin-walled stiffened structures. A novel approach is presented to model both skins and stiffeners using 2D finite elements (FEs) with enhanced capabilities. The deformation of the stiffeners is accurately described using higher order Lagrange polynomials, and the mechanical continuity between the reinforcements and the skin is automatically ensured in correspondence of the Lagrange points. The 2D FEs are built using the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), which allows arbitrary refinement of the stiffener kinematics. In this way, any type of deformation can be described and, if a higher-order model is used, the three-dimensional (3D) stress distribution can be evaluated. The proposed model is tested on a stiffened plate and compared with results obtained using traditional FEA, including 3D and 2D models and a combination of 2D and one-dimensional (1D) models for the stiffeners. The results show and demonstrate the reliability of the proposed method, both in terms of displacements and stresses, when compared to the 3D solution. In addition, the computational cost, evaluated here as the number of degrees of freedom (DOFs), is much lower. Finally, the ability of this model to deal with curved stiffeners is demonstrated with practical examples.