A series of elastoplastic large-deflection finite element analyses is performed on stiffened aluminium plates with flat-bar stiffeners under in-plane longitudinal compression loads. Then, the closed-form ultimate compressive strength formula is derived for stiffened aluminium plates by regression analysis. Finally, artificial neural network methodology is applied to predict the ultimate strength of uniaxially compressed stiffened aluminium plates. It is found that artificial neural network models can produce a more accurate prediction of the ultimate strength of the stiffened aluminium plates than can the existing empirical formula.
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