ANALYSIS OF LATERAL PRESSURE EFFECTS ON THE POST BUCKLING BEHAVIOUR OF AXIALLY LOADED STIFFENED ALUMINIUM PLATES

As an extension of preceding work [1], the effects of lateral pressure loads on the post-buckling behaviour of stiffened aluminium plates was investigated and a report of it is given in this paper. Stiffened three-span plates made of aluminium alloy AA6082-T6 are considered. The plates are stiffened with extruded/nonextruded profiles. Only open section (L-shaped) stiffeners were considered in this study. Nonlinear finite element method is adopted and elastic-plastic large deflection analyses are performed using commercial ANSYS software. It is revealed from this investigation that with increasing lateral pressure, yielding is accelerated, while occurrence of buckling is delayed. Also it is seen among the results that the buckling type (from viewpoint of plasticity) and its occurrence is highly affected by the existence and various location of the welding lines. These results can be incorporated in the design codes and recommendations.

Keywords:

Stiffened aluminium plates , Post-buckling , Lateral pressure , Heat affected zone