Abstract

Thin-walled structures subjected to internal or external pressure usually need to be reinforced with ribs. The design of ribs is generally based on experiences in engineering, and the results are often very conservative. In this paper, an approach for the rational design of reinforced ribs on thin-walled structures is proposed based on the limit load analysis method, maximizing the limit load of the reinforced thin-walled structure or minimizing the weight of the reinforced ribs. Firstly, the limit load numerical analysis was conducted to study rib forms at the continuous and discontinuous regions of the structure and find the rational ribs which provide the most effective reinforcement for the structure. Then, using the proposed rib forms, an engine test cabin was re-designed based on the limit load analysis to verify the feasibility and effects of the rib design. The engine test cabin after the redesign of the rib plate can reach 98% of the limit load of the original test cabin while the weight of reinforcing ribs is only 62% of the weight of the original ones, which means that the reinforcement design approach based on the limit load analysis method and the rib forms proposed in this paper is effective and feasible, and can achieve a structural lightweight design.

Highlights

  • As they have the advantage of a light weight, reinforced thin-walled structures are widely used in aviation, shipbuilding and construction engineering [1,2,3,4,5]

  • The rational design of reinforcing ribs for thin-walled structures is of significance in engineering

  • Mojtaba et al [7] found that for steel plate shear walls with a partial plate-column connection (SPSW-PC), removing the connection between the web-plate and columns can be beneficial in terms of decreasing the overall system demand on the vertical boundary members, based on the results and findings of this research study, such detachment can reduce the stiffness and strength capacities of steel shear walls by about 25% on average

Read more

Summary

Introduction

As they have the advantage of a light weight, reinforced thin-walled structures are widely used in aviation, shipbuilding and construction engineering [1,2,3,4,5]. By specifying the thickness of the thin-plate foundation and extending the design space along the height of the ribs, the distribution results of the material reinforcement trajectories were obtained, and the reinforcement layout design of the thin-walled structure was guided. Ding et al [17] proposed an adaptive growth design method based on the research on the optimality of the branch system form in nature and its growth mechanism, taking the stiffener distribution design of the thin-plate structure as an example. The objective of this paper is to propose a clear, simple and easy-to-implement approach for reinforcing the rib design of thin-walled structures based on the limit load analysis method. Different forms of reinforcing ribs with the same weight set at the continuous or discontinuous regions of the structure were studied, assessing their reinforcement effects on the limit load of the structure. It is clear that with0th.1e8same weight, the limit lo0ad.1f8or the ribs set along the short side of the yield zone is larger than that along the long side

Short over Long
Findings
Present over Original
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call