A numerical assessment of the buckling/ultimate strength characteristics of stiffened aluminium plates with fixed/floating transverse frames

Abstract The main target of this research is to identify the merits and disadvantages of the application of a newly proposed design of stiffened aluminium plates incorporating transverse floating frames, from buckling/ultimate strength points of view. In order to achieve this, an extensive investigation into the buckling and ultimate strength of orthogonally stiffened aluminium plates with different structural arrangements of transverse frames is presented in this paper. The transverse frames are assumed to be either in fixed or floating position. Other combined placements of the transverse frames are also proposed and included in the comparative study. Nonlinear finite element analyses are performed on the models. Average stress–average strain relationships and also stress and deflection contours are obtained from the analyses. Buckling and ultimate strength characteristics of all models are identified and compared to each other. The key findings show that the model with transverse floating frames does not necessarily has the highest buckling strength as is believed in common practice. Also, the mixed or complex pattern of the installation of the transverse frames may lead to the highest ultimate strength.

[1]  Jeom Kee Paik,et al.  A novel concept for structural design and construction of vessels : Using aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels. Discussion. Authors' closure , 1997 .

[2]  William A. Henrickson,et al.  A Synthesis of Aluminum Crewboat Structural Design , 1982 .

[3]  Aluminium Structures,et al.  Aluminium structures : advances, design, and construction , 1987 .

[4]  R. Cook,et al.  Concepts and Applications of Finite Element Analysis , 1974 .

[5]  Philippe Rigo,et al.  Discussion on Paper D04 “Ultimate limit state design technology for aluminium multi-hull ship structures, SNAME Transactions, Vol.113, (2005)” , 2005 .

[6]  Torgeir Moan,et al.  Experimental And Numerical Study of Torsional Buckling of Stiffeners In Aluminium Panels , 2000 .

[7]  Colen Kennell,et al.  HIGH-SPEED SEALIFT TECHNOLOGY , 1998 .

[8]  Philippe Rigo,et al.  Sensitivity analysis on ultimate strength of aluminium stiffened panels , 2003 .

[9]  Jeom Kee Paik,et al.  Mechanical Collapse Testing on Aluminum Stiffened Plate Structures for Marine Applications , 2008 .

[10]  Jeom Kee Paik.  Empirical formulations for predicting the ultimate compressive strength of welded aluminum stiffened panels , 2007 .

[11]  P. D. Herrington,et al.  Development of an aluminum hull panel for high-speed craft , 1998 .

[12]  Khosrow Ghavami,et al.  Numerical and experimental investigations on the compression behaviour of stiffened plates , 2006 .

[13]  Jeom Kee Paik,et al.  Ultimate limit state design technology for aluminum multi-hull ship structures , 2005 .

[14]  Jeom Kee Paik,et al.  Ultimate limit state design of steel-plated structures , 2003 .

[15]  Robert A. Sielski,et al.  Research needs in aluminum structure , 2008 .

[16]  Matthew Collette.  The impact of fusion welds on the ultimate strength of aluminum structures , 2007 .