FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF STIFFENED LAMINATED PLATES UNDER TRANSVERSE LOADING

A finite element model is developed to study the behavior of stiffened laminated plates under transverse loadings. Transverse shear flexibil ity is incorporated in both beam and plate displacement fields. A lami nated plate element with 45 degrees of freedom is used in conjunction with a laminated beam element having 12 degrees of freedom for the ben ding analysis of eccentrically-stiffened laminated plates. The validit y of the formulation is demonstrated by comparing with the available s olutions in the literature. The numerical results are presented for ec centrically-stiffened layered plates having various boundary condition s and with stiffeners varying in number. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Lim ited.