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Journal of Civil & Architectural Engineering
Volume 1 Issue 2
Effectuality of Stiffeners in Plate using FEM
Amit Kumar Gorai
1
, P. Pal
2
1
M.Tech Scholar,
2
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
MNNIT Allahabad, U.P., India
E-mail:amit.gorai.50@gmail.com
1
, prpal@mnnit.ac.in
2
Abstract
This paper deals with the studies of the state of impacts of cross sections of stiffeners in
improving the measure of displacement and frequency of stiffened plate. The plate has been
modelled with single and cross stiffeners under the impact of transverse pressure load. The
free vibration analysis of stiffened plate is carried out to ensure the overall validity of the
results of displacement. First-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is used in conjunction
with the finite element approach using eight-noded quadratic isoparametric element. The
numerical experiments on different samples are carried out by using Ansys Workbench
14.0.The comparison of results of deflection of the bare plate obtained in the present
investigation is made with those available in the reported literature. Steel being a non-
sustainable material, there is a necessity to use it very efficiently. Keeping this in mind, the
volume of the material used is kept constant and the deflection and stress of the plate is
minimized and the natural frequency is maximized to get an optimum combination of stiffener
and plate. To investigate the behaviour of stiffened plate, parametric studies are carried out
for different cases by varying the dimensions of stiffener i.e. length, thickness and depth.
Keywords: Isotropic plates, Stiffener, Free-vibration analysis, FEM, Ansys.
INTRODUCTION
Stiffened plates are lightweight, high-
strength and high strength-to-weight ratio
structural members. A stiffened plate
consists of a plate with integrated beams
on one or both sides. The stiffeners
enhance the rigidity of base structural
element by increasing their cross- sectional
moment of inertia so as to reduce the
deflection of the structure. These plates
are widely used in recent engineering
applications viz. aerospace, bridge, ship