Abstract
Abstract The objective of this study is to analyse the behaviour of compressed stiffened plates of different slenderness using experimental and numerical methods. The presented results are part of a long-term project to investigate the ultimate strength of geometrically imperfect structures subjected to different degradation phenomena, including corrosion degradation and locked cracks. Several specimens were subjected to a uniaxial compressive force, and the most important quantities related to the structural behaviour were captured and analysed. A finite element model, accounting for material and geometrical nonlinearities and initial geometrical imperfections, was developed using the commercial software ANSYS. The residual welding-induced stresses were measured in the middle cross-section for two specimens. The initial imperfection was identified by employing a close-range photogrammetry approach. It was concluded that the numerical analyses, based on the finite element model, predict the ultimate strength of stiffened plates accurately, although some deviations were also observed. The detailed analysis with the indication of possible uncertainty is presented, and several conclusions are derived.
Highlights
Ultimate strength analysis is currently one of the fundamental types of structural assessment considering ship and offshore structures
To establish a reliable numerical model, this study aims to validate the finite element model with experimental results through a detailed investigation of different governing input parameters, such as mechanical properties, level of initial imperfections and residual stresses
In the case of the 5 mm stiffened plate, the maximum force was reached at the level of 7 mm of longitudinal displacement
Summary
Ultimate strength analysis is currently one of the fundamental types of structural assessment considering ship and offshore structures. A benchmark study in [2] showed that various analysts who participated in the benchmark study, having the same initial parameters of the FE model, presented results with relatively high scatter. The conclusion was that more validation through experimental work is needed. The development of numerical tools is still progressing, and experimental investigations are the most valuable for predicting the ultimate strength of different structural components. The experimental results are typically used to validate other numerical methods. Due to the very high costs and problems with the loading application, reduced-scale experiments are more frequently conducted, usually in the form of a box girder. Apart from hull girder tests, investigations of reduced models, i.e., stiffened panels, stiffened plates, and plates, are frequently performed
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