Economy of welded stiffened steel plates and cylindrical shells

Farkas, József (2005) Economy of welded stiffened steel plates and cylindrical shells. JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED MECHANICS, 6 (2). pp. 183-205. ISSN 1586-2070

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Abstract

The main requirements for modern load-carrying structures are safety, producibility and economy. Economy is characterized by cost. We have developed a structural optimization system which assures the safety and producibility by fulfillment of design and fabrication constraints, and economy is achieved by minimization of a cost function. Using this system it is possible to make realistic comparisons between different structural versions. This is based on a cost calculation method which is developed mainly for welded structures. The thickness of plates and shells can be decreased by stiffening. Stiffened structures are economic, when the cost difference caused by thickness reduction is higher than the additional cost of stiffening material and welding. It is shown by numerical problems that stiffening is economic only in case when the sensitivity of plates and shells to buckling or transverse deformation can effectively be eliminated by it. The economy of stiffened structures depends on the type of load and stiffening. Since plates are very sensitive to buckling and transverse deformation, their stiffening is always effective and economic. Cylindrical shells are sensitive to buckling in the case of external pressure thus ring-stiffening is economic in this case. On the other hand, they are not very sensitive to buckling in the case of axial compression or bending, thus ring-stiffening is uneconomic for these loads and stringer-stiffening is economic only in cases when the transverse deformation of the whole shell is limited.

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