Compressive tests on stiffened panels of intermediate slenderness

Test results are presented of eight stiffened panels subjected to axial compression until collapse and beyond. The specimens are three-bay stiffened panels with associated plate made of very high tensile steel S690. The use of this very high strength steel led to the unconventional solution of using U stiffeners and this paper aims at understanding the difference of performance of this stiffener type as compared with the conventional ones. Four different configurations are considered for the stiffeners, which are made of mild or high tensile steel for bar stiffeners and mild steel for ‘L’ and ‘U’ stiffeners. The influence of the stiffener's geometry on the ultimate strength of the stiffened panels under compression is analyzed.

Research highlights
► 8 stiffened panels are tested under compressive loads.
► 4 different configurations of the stiffeners are considered.
► The influence of different steel in plate and stiffeners is analyzed.
► Hybrid panels perform better than full S690 panels with the applied design criteria.
► Boundary conditions and the width of the panel affects the ultimate strength.