Ultimate strength of stiffened panels with cutouts under uniaxial compression
(Citations: 1)
An approximate method based on strut approach to predict the ultimate strength of simply-supported stiffened panels with initial imperfections and square cutouts, subjected to uniaxial compression is presented. The reduction in stiffness of the plate between stiffeners is considered by using an ‘effective width concept’. Tests are reported on welded stiffened steel panels with varying plate slenderness ratio and column slenderness ratio. Based on the experimental investigations and the proposed method, the influence of square openings, extending the full width between stiffeners, on the ultimate strength of stiffened panels is evaluated.