Buckling Assessment of Stiffened Steel Panels

Plated structures are widely used in many engineering constructions ranging from aircraft to ships and from offshore structures to bridges and buildings. A key issue in the use of such structures is their stability behaviour under compressive stress, and the related analysis is a very comprehensive subject. FE programs allow direct analysis without requiring the solving of complicated differential equations. However, such analyses are usually time demanding processes especially regarding 3D-modelling and mesh creation. Very little academic literature exists on how to best utilise different available buckling assessment methods in practice. This text provides a good deal of practical insight into the methods of buckling strength assessment and weight optimisation of stiffened panels in offshore marine environments, and will be a useful literature for engineering science students, and engineers involved in design of plated structures. A brief literature study of the general theory of plate buckling is presented, followed by two different DNV recommended methods for buckling and ultimate strength assessment of plated structures, as well as detailed presentation of similar nonlinear FEA.