Semi-analytical postbuckling and strength analysis of arbitrarily stiffened plates in local and global bending

A semi-analytical method for pre- and postbuckling analysis of imperfect plates with arbitrary stiffener arrangements, subjected to in-plane biaxial and shear loading, is presented. By using large deflection theory in combination with the Rayleigh-Ritz approach on an incremental form, the method is able to trace both local and global equilibrium paths. Ultimate strength predictions are made using the von Mises' yield criterion applied to the membrane stresses as collapse criterion. A Fortran computer program based on the presented theory is developed and computed results are verified by comparisons with nonlinear finite element analysis. Relatively high numerical accuracy is achieved with small computational efforts. The method is therefore suited also for design optimisation and reliability studies. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.