• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.791-804
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• 2022

As a type of semi-rigid connection, the top and seat angle connections are popular in current structures owing to their good cyclic performance and simple erection. However, their stiffness and load bearing capacity are relatively insufficient. This study proposes two strengthening methods to further increase the stiffness and strength of bolted-angle joints while maintaining satisfactory energy dissipation capacity (EDC) and ductility. Cyclic loading tests were conducted on six joint specimens with different strengthened angle components. Based on the test results, the influence of the following important factors on the cyclic behavior of steel joint specimens was investigated: the position of the rib stiffeners (edge rib stiffeners and middle rib stiffener), steel strength grade of rib stiffeners (Q345 and Q690), and additional stiffeners or not. In addition, the finite element models of these specimens were built and validated through a comparison of experimental and numerical results. The stiffness and bearing capacity of the bolted-angle joints could be improved significantly by utilizing the novel strengthened joints proposed in this study. Moreover, this can be achieved with almost no increase in the amount of steel required, and the EDC of this joint could also satisfy the requirements of seismic codes from various countries.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2018

Thin-walled cross-sections can be optimized to enhance their resistance and progress their behaviour, leading to more competent and inexpensive structural system. The aim of this study is to afford a methodology that would facilitate progress of optimized cold formed steel (CFS) column section with maximum ultimate strength for practical applications. The proposed sections are designed to comply with the geometrical standards of pre-qualified column standards for CFS structures as well as with the number of industrialized and practical constraints. The stiffening evaluation process of CFS lipped channel columns, a five different cross section are considered. The experimental strength and behaviour of the proposed sections are verified by using the finite element analysis (FEA). A series comprehensive parametric study is carried out covering a wide range of section slenderness and overall slenderness ratio of the CFS column with and without intermediate web stiffeners. The ultimate strength of the sections is determined based on the Direct Strength Specification and other design equation available from the literature for CFS structures. A modified design method is proposed for the DSM specification. The results indicate that the CFS column with complex edge and intermediate web stiffeners provides an ultimate strength which is up to 78% higher than standard optimized shapes with the same amount of cross sectional area.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.7-17
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• 2019

With increasing demand for large offshore infrastructures, suction cofferdams have been large, and the lid stiffener arrangement for a suction cofferdam has become a key element in cofferdam design to constrain the flexural deformation effectively. This study analyzed the changes in the structural behavior of a lid for a suction cofferdam due to lid stiffeners to provide insights into effective stiffener arrangements. By investigating conventional suction anchors, several stiffener patterns of a lid for a polygonal suction cofferdam were determined and analyzed. The structural performance of the stiffened lids was estimated by comparing the stress and deformation, and the reaction distributions on the edge of lid were investigated to analyze the effects of the stiffener arrangement on the lid-wall interface. Finite element analysis showed that radial stiffeners contribute dominantly to decreasing the stress and vertical deflection of the lids, but the stiffeners cause an increase in shear forces between the lid and wall; the forces are concentrated on the lid near the areas reinforced with radial stiffeners, which is negative to lid-wall connection design. On the other hand, inner and outer circumferential stiffeners show little reinforcement effects in themselves, while they can help reduce the stress and deformation when arranged with partial radial stiffeners simultaneously.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.685-704
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• 2003

The buckling and vibration characteristics of stiffened plates subjected to in-plane concentrated edge loading are studied using finite element method. The problem involves the effects of non-uniform stress distribution over the plate. Buckling loads and vibration frequencies are determined for different plate aspect ratios, boundary edge conditions and load positions. The non-uniform stresses may also be caused due to the supports on the edges. The analysis presented determines the initial stresses all over the region considering the pre-buckling stress state for different kinds of loading and edge conditions. In the structural modeling, the plate and the stiffeners are treated as separate elements where the compatibility between these two types of elements is maintained. The vibration characteristics are discussed and the results are compared with those available in the literature and some interesting new results are obtained.

• Bulletin of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.11-16
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• 1980

For vibration analysis of stiffened plates the orthotropic plate analogy is commonly accepted. As to stiffened plates in contact with water, however, there is still much uncertainty in estimation of the added mass because of the lack of direct methods. The authors, considering that for added mass of plates there are many reliable data derived theoretically or experimentally available, suggest a method to estimate the added mass of a stiffened plate by combining the mass increase factor, $\beta$, of an equivalent orthotropic plate and the correction factor, $\kappa$, for the effects of stiffeners. The latter is to be derived from systematic experimental investigations. Then, the natural frequency in water, f', can be calculated from that in air, f, by the equation $f'=f/\sqrt{1+\kappa\beta}$. To investigate practical applicability of this method, a systematic experiment was carried out with five uniaxially stiffened plates. Each of them had a plate of same size, $600mm{\times}600mm{\times}3.2mm$, but stiffeners of different size in the web-depth, 41.6mm, 51.2mm or 66.8mm and of different spacing 75mm, 100mm, or 150mm. Natural frequencies were measured under simply supported-edge conditions in both air and water, and corresponding $\kappa$ values derived. In spite of wide variations of web-depth and spcae of stiffeners, the experimental results show that the diversity of $\kappa$ values is not remarkable; mean values of $\kappa$ are 1.31 with standard deviation of 0.025 for the first modes and 1.27 with that 0.077 for the second modes. Hence, the authors concluded that the above $\kappa$ values can be used generally for the cases of uniaxially stiffened plates both sides of which contact with water, and that $\kappa$ values of general use for the cases of cross-stiffened plates may also be obtainable from similar experiments.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.483-510
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• 2006

The dynamic instability characteristics of laminated composite stiffened shell panels subjected to in-plane harmonic edge loading are investigated in this paper. The eight-noded isoparametric degenerated shell element and a compatible three-noded curved beam element are used to model the shell panels and the stiffeners respectively. As the usual formulation of degenerated beam element is found to overestimate the torsional rigidity, an attempt has been made to reformulate it in an efficient manner. Moreover the new formulation for the beam element requires five degrees of freedom per node as that of shell element. The method of Hill's infinite determinant is applied to analyze the dynamic instability regions. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effects of various parameters like shell geometry, lamination scheme, stiffening scheme, static and dynamic load factors and boundary conditions, on the dynamic instability behaviour of laminated composite stiffened panels subjected to in-plane harmonic loads along the boundaries. The results of free vibration and buckling of the laminated composite stiffened curved panels are also presented.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.3
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• pp.239-252
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• 2024

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are classified as lateral load-resisting systems. The feasibility of openings in the steel plate is a characteristic of SPSWs. The use of openings in SPSWs can lower the load capacity, stiffness, and energy dissipation. This study proposes a novel form of SPSWs that provides convenient access through openings by combining steel plates and eccentrically braced frames (EBFs). The proposed system also avoids a substantial reduction in the strength and stiffness. Hence, various geometric forms were analyzed through two different structural approaches. Groups 1, 2, and 3 included a steel EBF with a steel plate between the column and EBF in order to improve system performance. In Group 4, the proposed system was evaluated within an SPSW with openings and an EBF on the opening edge. To evaluate the performance of the proposed systems, the nonlinear finite element method (NL-FEM) was employed under cyclic loading. The hysteresis (load-drift) curve, stress contour, stiffness, and damping were evaluated as the structural outputs. The numerical models indicated that local buckling within the middle plate-EBF connection prevented a diagonal tension field. Moreover, in group 4, the EBF and stiffeners on the opening edge enhanced the structural response by approximately 7.5% in comparison with the base SPSW system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.6
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• pp.601-615
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• 2024

Effect of ring and straight stiffeners in the buckling as well as vibration characteristics of metal-ceramic functionally graded plates with cutout subjected to various uniaxial and localized in-plane compressive edge loadings was explored in the present work. In the current work, the distinguishing characteristics of metal and ceramic are merged in a single volume, and power law was used for estimating the material composition throughout thickness. Buckling and free vibration characteristics were studied initially for unstiffened Al/SiC functionally graded plates with cutout. Subsequently, the influence of cutout ratio on buckling load as well as natural frequency for different power law indices was discussed. The functionally graded plate was stiffened by three different stiffener patterns, namely; ring stiffener, straight stiffener, as well as a combination of the ring and the straight stiffener, to enhance the buckling as well as vibration characteristics. The effect of stiffener depth ratio for different stiffener patterns was also presented for functionally graded plates having different cutout sizes under various loading conditions. Such studies on functionally graded material have potential applications in a variety of technological fields including the aerospace and defense sectors.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.391-399
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• 2020

In this study, the behaviors of a suction cap shaped as an arch were analyzed using finite element models. The fundamental structural behaviors of both flat- and arch-type caps were compared, and the advantages of the arch-shaped cap were explained. Moreover, the effects of geometric parameters and stiffener arrangements on the stress and deformation of the arch-shaped caps were investigated by comparisons of the changes in the behaviors of the caps. Additionally, the effects of boundary condition at the edge of the cap were analyzed to study the interactions between the cap and cofferdam walls; these results were used to derive the fundamental structural design of stiffened arch caps. Unlike flat caps, the results showed that ring stiffeners could improve the structural behaviors of arch caps remarkably, while the contributions of the radial stiffeners to the structural behaviors of the caps are dependent on constraints at the edges of the caps.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.367-382
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• 2012

This paper is dedicated to the buckling behaviors of strengthened perforated plates under edge shear loading, which is a typical load pattern of steel plates in civil engineering, especially in plate and box girders. The square plates considered each has a centric circular hole and is simply supported on four edges in the out-of-plane direction. Three types of strengthening stiffeners named ringed stiffener (RS), flat stiffener (FSA and FSB) and strip stiffener (SSA, SSB and SSC) are mainly discussed. The finite element method (FEM) has been employed to analyse the elastic and elasto-plastic buckling behavior of unstrengthened and strengthened perforated plates. Results show that most of the strengthened perforated plates behave higher buckling strengths than the unstrengthened ones, while the enhancements in elastic buckling stress and elasto-plastic ultimate strength are closely related to stiffener types as well as plate geometric parameters including plate slenderness ratio and hole diameter to plate width ratio. The critical slenderness ratios of shear loaded strengthened perforated plates, which determine the practical buckling pattern (i.e., elastic or elasto-plastic buckling) of the plates, are also studied. Based on the contrastive analyses of strengthening efficiency considering the influence of stiffener consumption, the most efficient cutout-strengthening methods for shear loaded perforated square plates with different slenderness ratios and circular hole diameter to plate width ratios are preliminarily identified.