Sensitivity analysis on the elastic buckling and ultimate strength of continuous stiffened aluminium plates under combined in-plane compression and lateral pressure

In this paper, the results of an investigation into the post-buckling behaviour of high-strength aluminium alloy stiffened plates subjected to combined axial compression load and different magnitudes of lateral pressure using non-linear finite element approach is presented. Both material and geometric non-linearities have been taken into account. The principal variables studied are the plate thickness, boundary conditions and the stiffener geometries beside the geometrical imperfection, the width of the welding heat-affected zone (HAZ) and welding residual stresses. The influence of these variables on the post-buckling behaviour and ultimate strength of such stiffened plates has been investigated in details.