Cracks in Sheets Having Stiffeners Attached by a Single Row of Rivets.

Abstract : The problem of a crack in a large stiffened sheet subjected to uniform stress remote from the crack has been analysed using complex variable techniques: the stiffeners are perpendicular to the crack and are each fixed to the sheet by a single row of rigid fasteners. Three quantities of engineering importance are derived: (1) the stress intensity factor of the crack, (2) the forces at the points of attachment near the crack, and (3) the maximum load in each stiffener. The dependence of these quantities on the stiffness and spacing of the stiffeners and on the spacing of the fasteners is evaluated for a crack located in the sheet either symmetrically between two stiffeners or symmetrically under a stiffener. When the crack extends under the stiffener two cases are considered, the stiffener broken or unbroken. (Author)