Experimental studies on stiffened plates under in-plane load and lateral pressure

• Behaviour of stiffened plates under in-plane load and lateral pressure studied.
• An experimental study on stiffened plates subjected to in-plane compression and lateral pressure described.
• Accuracy of the finite element model developed established.
• Effects of geometrical imperfections and plate slenderness investigated.

An experimental study on stiffened plates subjected to combined action of in-plane load and lateral pressure is described in the paper. Details of the experiments and finite element analyses of the specimens tested are presented along with the results. Measurements of initial imperfection in the specimens have been made and included in the analyses. Results show that lateral load carrying capacity of stiffened plate drops with increase in axial load and vice-versa. It is found that plate slenderness ratio has significant influence on the ultimate load capacity of stiffened plates subjected to both in-plane load and lateral pressure. Increase of plate slenderness ratio results in a decrease of ultimate load capacity of stiffened plate. The accuracy of the finite element modelling is established by comparing the results with the corresponding experimental values.