A new finite element for buckling analysis of laminated stiffened plates

A new stiffened plate element for stability analysis of laminated stiffened plates has been presented. The basic plate element is a combination of All man's plane stress triangular element and a Discrete Kirchhoff-Mindlin plat e bending element. The element includes transverse shear effects. The model accommodates any number of arbitrarily oriented stiffeners within the plat e element and eliminates constraints on the mesh division of the plate. The element has no problem associated with shear locking - a phenomenon usuall y encountered in isoparametric elements. The stability analysis of laminate d stiffened plates has been carried out under different loading conditions with the present element. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.