Dynamic stiffness formulation for the vibrations of stiffened plate structures with consideration of in-plane deformation

Abstract

A dynamic stiffness method is presented for the vibrations of plate structures that are reinforced by eccentric stiffeners. The model incorporates both out-of-plane and in-plane deformations of the plates and the stiffeners. Based on the relationship between the forces and displacements along the common edges of the plate or beam elements, the dynamic stiffness formulae for the plate and the beam elements are derived, respectively. The globally assembled dynamic stiffness matrix is then obtained using the finite element method so that the dynamics of built-up stiffened plates can be readily addressed by using the present method. Compared to the conventional finite element model, the dynamic stiffness model can provide very accurate solutions using only one element over each uniform plate and beam member, regardless of its geometry.