Experimental and numerical studies on the response of stiffened plates subjected to gas explosions

This paper presents both experimental and numerical studies of stiffened pl ates subjected to hydrocarbon explosions and a parametric study of a simpli fied model of a stiffened plate considering different response aspects incl uding the contribution of stiffeners under different stress state and loadi ng levels. Boundary conditions, particularly, the in-plane restraints have a significant influence on the panel response when subjected to this kind o f extreme load case. The difference in boundary conditions between a specim en and a component in an actual structural system has to be considered in o rder to predict the response accurately. The contribution of stiffeners is influenced by many factors, but the second moment of the cross section is t he most important factor. Once buckling occurs in stiffeners, the deformed shape of a stiffened plate is very similar to that of an unstiffened plate. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.