Stiffened aluminium panels subjected to axial compression

This paper presents axial compression tests on longitudinally stiffened alu minium panels in alloy AA6082 temper T6. A specially designed test facility is presented. The panels are built up with extruded aluminium profiles con nected by longitudinal welds. Two panel types are considered, with open sec tion (L-shaped) stiffeners and closed section stiffeners, respectively. The experimental programme comprises tests on single panels supported along al l four edges and as a special case panels supported at two edges only. Test s on panels with lengths 1.0 m. and 2.0 m are reported. Two deformation mod es were observed in the tests; regular flexural buckling of the entire pane l towards either the stiffener side or the plating side, and, for the case of the panels with L-shaped stiffeners, collapse initiated by stiffener tri pping. The panel resistance is compared with the design resistance obtained from the European standard for aluminium structures, Eurocode 9. For all p anels the experimental capacity exceeded the design value. (C) 2001 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.