Experimental and numerical study on the ultimate strength of stiffened plates subjected to combined biaxial compression and lateral loads

Abstract

The ultimate strength of stiffened plates subjected to combined biaxial compression and lateral loads has not been widely investigated yet by experiments. In this study, both experimental and numerical analyses were performed to study the ultimate strength and collapse behaviors of stiffened plates under the combined biaxial compression and lateral loads. And the experimental set-up provides reference for combined loads experiments. The initial deformation of the experimental specimens has been measured by laser scanning technique and taken account in the nonlinear finite element analysis. Collapse modes have also been analyzed and compared, and influences of the interaction of lateral and transverse loads on the ultimate strength have been investigated. Results show that lateral pressure would enhance the ultimate load-carrying capacity when the lateral pressure restrained deformation. And the collapse mode was the combination of local web buckling and lateral-torsional buckling of stiffeners when transverse loads were dominant load components.