ULTIMATE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF ORTHOGONALLY STIFFENED

STEEL PLATES

By Ichizou Mikami, l Member, ASeE, and Kazuhisa Niwa2

ABSTRACT: An approximate method to predict ultimate strength is presented for orthogonally stiffened steel
plates subjected to uniaxial compression, based on the orthotropic plate theory. The present method can treat all
collapse modes which occur on the orthogonally stiffened plates; for example, overall buckling of the main plate
together with longitudinal and transverse stiffeners, and overall buckling of the main plate between the adjacent
transverse stiffeners together with longitudinal stiffeners. In addition, the method includes the effect of the local
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buckling that occurs on the longitudinal stiffeners and/or the plate panels bounded by both the longitudinal and
transverse stiffeners. Thus the method can be used for the practical design of actual steel stiffened plates; i.e.,
subjected to .:ccentric compression, nonuniformly stiffened, or having large stringers together with longitudinal
stiffeners. Many test results of longitudinally and orthogonally stiffened steel plates subjected to uniaxial com-
pression are used for comparing with the ultimate strength predicted by the present method. It is found from
comparison that the present method shows a good agreement with the test results.

INTRODUCTION
For the limit state design of highway steel bridges, the ul-
timate strength of stiffened steel plates has to be predicted
simply and accurately. With respect to longitudinally stiffened
steel plates subjected to uniaxial compression, many studies
have been carried out (Massonet and Maquoi 1978; Mikami
1980). In actual steel structures, however, orthogonally stiff-
ened plates are frequently used. The ultimate strength of the
orthogonally stiffened plates can be approximately obtained by
using the prediction method for longitudinally stiffened plates,
if it is assumed that the orthogonally stiffened plates buckle
partially as longitudinally stiffened plates between the adjacent
transverse stiffeners. The orthogonally stiffened plates can also
be treated with the longitudinally stiffened continuous plate
(Nara et al. 1988; Nara 1992), if they have rigid transverse
stiffeners.
In the case of orthogonally stiffened plates with flexible
transverse stiffeners, the ultimate strength has been discussed
in some papers (Massonet and Maquoi 1973; Djubek and Ska-
loud 1977; Yoshida and Maekawa 1979; Mikami et al. 1980).
These studies, however, dealt with the overall buckling and
partial buckling of the orthogonally stiffened plates without
local buckling. The stiffened plates have postbuckling strength
after local buckling occurs. Therefore, the ultimate strength
should be determined for coupled buckling of the overall or
partial buckling and the local buckling. Yoshinami and
Ohmura (1983) and Nakai et al. (1986) discussed the coupled
buckling strength of orthogonally stiffened plates with limited
dimension, under the assumption that the local buckling occurs
only in the plate panels bounded by the longitudinal and trans-
verse stiffeners. The coupled buckling strength, however,
should be determined by taking account of the local buckling
of longitudinal stiffeners as well as the local buckling of plate
panels.
In this paper, an approximate approach to predict the ulti-
mate strength is presented for orthogonally stiffened steel
plates under uniaxial compression, based on the orthotropic
plate theory (Mikami and Niwa 1990). The present method is
tprof., Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Kansai Univ., Osaka 564, Japan.
2Yisiting Researcher, Res. Inst. of Industrial Techno!., Kansai Univ.,
Osaka 564, Japan.
Note. Associate Editor: Eric M. Lui. Discussion open until November
I, 1996. To extend the closing date one month, a written request must
be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The manuscript for this
paper was submitted for review and possible publication on December
15, 1994. This paper is part of the Jour1Ul1 of Structural Engineering,
Yol. 122, No.6, June, 1996. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/96/0006-0674-
0682/$4.00 + $.50 per page. Paper No. 9785.
6741 JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING I JUNE 1996
easily able to deal with the orthogonally stiffened plates hav-
ing flexible transverse stiffeners as well as rigid ones, and to
apply to the coupled buckling of overall or partial buckling
and local buckling-the buckling of longitudinal stiffeners or
plate panels.
Some practical steel structures have compressive stiffened
plates with longitudinal stiffeners discontinuous at the trans-
verse stiffeners. The strength of these stiffened plates may be
reduced because of eccentric compression. This paper gives
the approximate method for predicting the ultimate strength of
the orthogonally stiffened plates under eccentric compression.
In addition, the practical stiffened plates may be reinforced
by some large stringers together with longitudinal and trans-
verse stiffeners. In the case of these stiffened plates having
equally spaced longitudinal stiffeners and equally spaced large
stringers, the ultimate strengths have been analyzed by Nakai
et al. (1986). In this paper, a prediction method for ultimate
strength is proposed for orthogonally stiffened plates having
various shapes, stiffnesses, and spacing of longitudinal stiff-
eners and stringers.
Mikami et al. (1989) collected many experimental results of
stiffened plates throughout the world, and constructed a data-
base with respect to the load-carrying capacity of stiffened
plates. In this paper, the proposed method is evaluated using
the database.
ORTHOGONALLY STIFFENED PLATES
An orthogonally stiffened steel plate is simply supported
along all edges and is subjected to uniaxial compression as
shown in Fig. 1. The plate of length L, width B, thickness t,
and flexural rigidity D is made of steel with the material prop-
erties of Young's modulus E, Poisson's ratio v, and yield stress
O'y, and is reinforced by longitudinal and transverse stiffeners,
the numbers of which are n, and nn respectively. The longi-
tudinal stiffeners of Young's modulus E.. Poisson's ratio v..
and yield stress O'ys are equally spaced b apart, and have flex-
ural rigidity E,I.. torsional ridigity G,l.. and cross-sectional
area A,. On the other hand, the transverse stiffeners of Young's
modulus En Poisson's ratio V n and yield stress O'y', are equally
spaced a apart, and have flexural rigidity ErIn torsional rigid-
ity G,l" and cross-sectional area A r. The following nondi-
mensional parameters are used in this paper:
0: = LIB; 0:, = alB = o:/(n, + 1); 13 = BIt (1-3)
'Y, =EsI.lbD; 'Y, = E,I,IBD; 8, = A,/bt (4-6)
where the moments of inertia of longitudinal and transverse
stiffeners, I, and In are calculated about the surface of the plate
connecting the stiffeners.

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.

 y

+4-------L = (n r + l)a----~ O"c

I ..c
----...
~

+ <I)

~
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'--'

II
~

~
~-----------Total panel----------~

I
FIG. 1. Orthogonally Stiffened Plate under Compression

Buckling Strength of Orthogonally Stiffened Plates ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF STIFFENED PLATES

WITHOUT LOCAL BUCKLING
The panels may be classified into the three types shown in
Fig. 1: the panel with longitudinal and transverse stiffeners is The orthogonally stiffened plate may be regarded as an or-
called "total panel," the longitudinally stiffened panel be- thotropic plate (Giencke 1964a, b). By using the orthotropic
tween adjacent transverse stiffeners is the "partial panel," and plate theory, the relationship between the elastic buckling
the panel bounded by longitudinal and transverse stiffeners is stress of the orthogonally stiffened plate, aero and the aspect
the "single panel." ratio of the total panel, a, is obtained as shown in Fig. 2
The orthogonally stiffened plate buckles in one of the fol- (Mikami 1980). In Fig. 2, m is the number of half-waves in
lowing four modes: the longitudinal direction in the buckled total panel, and mr is
the number of half-waves in the longitudinal direction in the
1. Overall buckling: The total panel buckles overall. buckled partial panel.
2. Partial buckling: The partial panel buckles between the
adjacent transverse stiffeners. Overall Buckling
3. Local buckling of single panels: Each single panel buck- The elastic buckling stress of the total panel is given by
les locally. (Giencke 1964a, b)
4. Local buckling of longitudinal stiffeners: Each longitu-
dinal stiffener buckles locally. 'filE 1 1
a er = 12(1 - v2 ) 132 1 + 8. 'Y. ~
[ (m)2 + a'Yr (a)2 (m a)2]
;;; + ~ + ;;;
r
The buckling strength of each of these four models can be (8)
obtained from the ultimate strength curve represented by a
It can be found from Fig. 2 that the overall buckling occurs
parameter
when m is less than nr + 1.

~
y Expression (8) may be simplified as follows:
A= - (7)
a er 7r 2E 1 1
where ay = yield stress; and <J'er = elastic buckling stress. This
a
er
= 12(1 ----
- v 2 ) 132 1 + 8.
technique was adopted in many design specifications: DASt-
Richtlinie 012 (1979), Federal Highway Administration
(FHwA) (Wolchk and Mayrbauri 1980), European Convention
.[(a + ~r + (n r + l>'Yr a r + ~~] for a< ao (9)
for Constructional Steelwork (BCCS) (1981), Dubas and Gehri 27r2E 1 1
(1986), and BS5400 (Steel 1982). a - ----
er - 12(1 - v 2 ) 132 1 + 8.
The ultimate strength of the orthogonally stiffened plate is
predicted by either the overall buckling strength or the partial
buckling strength when no local buckling of single panels and
longitudinal stiffeners occurs. If any local buckling occurs at
.[1 + ~(1 + (1 + ~:)] 1.) for a ~ aa
(10)
a lower load, the orthogonally stiffened plate has postbuckling where
strength. The ultimate strength of the orthogonally stiffened
plate is given by the coupled buckling strength of the overall 4 1+ 1.
or partial buckling and any local buckling.
aa= 1 + 1rlar
(11)

JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1996/675

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.

 Overall buckling \ Partial buckling
\
\
\\
\
m=nr \ m=nr+l
-~----
\,\.. ------
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. . .·r~=---~~
mr= 1 I
I
I
I
I
I

a
FIG. 2. Relationship between O'c,/O'yand Ot

This aspect ratio of the total panel gives the minimum strength where
in the case of buckling with one half-wave in the longitudinal
direction (Fig. 2). IX,O =~ (19)
Substituting (9) and (10) into (7) yields This aspect ratio of the partial panel gives the minimum
strength in the case of buckling with one half-wave in the
longitudinal direction (Fig. 2).
Substituting (17) and (18) into (7) yields
IX,
1
A3 =R for IX, < lX,o (20)
A2 = R for IX ;;:: lXo Vb, + (1 + lX~il(1 + 8,)
V2(1 + 8,)[1 + V(1 + 'Y,)(1 + 'Y,/IX,)l I
(13) A4 =R for IX, ;;:: IX'O (21)
V2(1 + 8,)(1 + ~)
where
Then the partial buckling stress of longitudinally stiffened
plates can be calculated by using the parameter A3 or A4'
(14, 15)
Elastic Buckling Stress
Thus the overall buckling stress of orthogonally stiffened If IX, < lX,o. the greater value of A2 and A3 corresponds to
plates can be obtanied by using the parameter Al or A2' the elastic buckling stress of the orthogonally stiffened plate.
Here, it is found from (12) and (13) that Al is a function of If IX, ~ lX,o. ~ also corresponds to the elastic buckling stress.
IX, while A2 is a function of IX,. For convenience in practical In the present process, only the two adjacent partial panels are
design, A2 is used instead of AI. and the overall buckling stress dealt with (Mikami 1980). in order to predict the ultimate
of orthogonally stiffened plates is calculated using only the strength of the orthogonally stiffened plate.
parameter A2'
Ultimate Strength
Partial Buckling The ultimate strength of the orthogonally stiffened plate
The elastic buckling stress of the partial panel is given by without any local buckling is obtained by the following ulti-
2
-rr E 1 1 [ (m,)2 + (m,- + -1X,)2]
mate strength curve (Mikami and Niwa 1990) for the deter-
mined type of A.
=
U e,
12(1 - v)
2
~ 1 + 8, 'Y, -IX,
""2 - - -
IX, m,
(16) 1.0 for A S 0.3 (22a)

As shown in Fig. 2, partial buckling occurs when m is greater

U
than n,. 2 = 1.0 - 0.63(A - 0.3) for 0.3 < A S 1.0 (22b)
Expression (16) may be simplified as follows: ut
= 1.0/(0.8 + A2)
2 u
= 12(1-rr -E v ..!.- + ..!..)2 + 'Y;] for IX, < lX,o U for 1.0 < A (22c)
U
e' 2
_1_
~2 1 + 8,
)
[(IX'
IX, IX, ut
(17) ULITMATE STRENGTH OF STIFFENED PLATES WITH
LOCAL BUCKLING
C1'cr =
When any single panel and/or any longitudinal stiffener
buckles locally before overall or partial buckling of the stiff-
676/ JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1996

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.

 ened plate occurs, it can be assumed that the stiffened plate and it was shown that the restraining effect is small and can
has the postbuckling capacity. In the present method, the ul- be disregarded. The elastic torsional buckling stress of the lon-
timate strength of the stiffened plate, whose elements are lo- gitudinal stiffeners is therefore expressed by
cally buckled, can be determined for the coupled buckling be-
tween the overall or partial buckling and the local buckling. GsJs
C1'cn=-- (28)
fpc
Local Buckling of Single Panels where fpc = polar moment of inertia of one longitudinal stiff-
Any single panel of length a and width b is subjected to ener with respect to the point connected with the main plate.
compression in the longitudinal direction. If it is assumed that Substituting (28) into (7) yields
the panel has all edges simply supported, the elastic buckling
stress can be given by ,
As, -
_ ~YS (29)
(J'crt

= __k'filE~
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(]'cr (_bt )2 (23) Thus the torsional buckling strength of the longitudinal stiff-
12(1 - v 2 ) eners is calculated by (Mikami and Niwa 1990)
where k = 4.0.
Substituting (23) into (7) yields - .... = 1.0
(]'

(]'Ys
for A" :5 0.3 (30a)

(24) - .... = 1.0 -

(]'

(]'Ys
0.53(A" - 0.45) for 0.3 < A" :5 1.41 (30b)

By using this parameter Ap , the local buckling strength of the (]'.... 2

single panel, (]'up, is obtained by (Mikami et al. 1983) - = LOlA"
(]'Ys
for 1.41 < A" (30e)

(]'
::..!£ = 1.0 for Ap :5 0.526 (25a) Local buckling strength of longitudinal stiffeners: The local
(]'Y
buckling strength of the longitudinal stiffener, (]'.... , is deter-
mined as the minimum of the values obtained from (27) and
~ = (0.526/Ap ) 01. for 0.526 < Ap (25b) (30).
(]'Y

which was compared with many test results of steel panels Ultimate Strength
with residual welding stress, collected throughout the world,
The ultimate strength of an orthogonally stiffened plate with
and was close to the mean minus one standard-deviation curve
local buckling can be obtained by reducing the strength in the
(Mikami et al. 1983; Mikami 1985).
case of no-local buckling. The reduction factor can be deter-
mined by using the effective width of the locally buckled panel
Local Buckling of Longitudinal Stiffeners
instead of its true width. Thus the ultimate strength of the
The local buckling of longitudinal stiffeners subjected to orthogonally stiffened plate with local buckling is given by
compression can be classified into the buckling of plate ele- (Mikami and Niwa 1990)
ments and the buckling as members.
Buckling of plate elemtents: We can deal with the longitu- (]'~ _ Pp(]'y + 8s Ps(]'Ys (]'. (31)
dinal stiffeners with cross sections of flat, bulb, T-, L-, U-, and (]'t - (1 + 8s )(]'t (]'t
V-shaped elements. The plate elements of longitudinal stiff- where
eners can be classified into two types of plate: the simply
supported plate and the outstanding plate. For example, any (32a)
flat stiffener has one element of an outstanding plate, while
any L-shaped stiffener consists of two elements of a simply PP = (]'upl(]'y for (]'up < (]'. (32b)
supported plate and an outstanding plate. Ps = 1.0 for (]'.... ~ (]'. (33a)
The elastic buckling stress of the plate elements can also be
given by (23), where k is 4.0 or 0.425 for simply supported (33b)
plate elements or outstanding elements, respectively. From (7)
COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
(26)
Collapse without Local Buckling
where bSi and tSi = width and thickness of any plate element The database (Mikami et al. 1989) has the experimental re-
of the longitudinal stiffener. sults of 42 models, which are compressed at the centroidal
The local buckling strength of any plate element of the lon- axis and are not locally buckled under the judgment by (25),
gitudinal stiffener is given by (Mikami et al. 1983) (27), and (30). These models were tested in Japan. The ex-
perimental ultimate strength (]'max of the models is plotted in
- .... = 1.0
(]'

(]'Ys
for As :5 0.526 (27a) Figs. 3 and 4, in order to compare with the predicted values
obtained by the present method. Fig. 3 shows the test results
of 36 solely longitudinally stiffened plates. Sixteen, 12, five,
(]'.... = (0.526/Asr for 0.526 < As (27b) and three models of the 36 have two, three, four, and five
(]'Ys
longitudinal stiffeners, respectively. Fig. 4 shows the test re-
Buckling of stiffeners as member: If the longitudinal stiff- sults of six orthogonally stiffened plates which have the four
eners have a T or L cross section, the torsional buckling as a longitudinal stiffeners and the two transverse stiffeners. The
bar must be checked. The longitudinal stiffeners are elastically mean and standard deviation of (]'maxl(]'. are obtained as shown
restrained by the main plate. The restraining effect in the case in Table 1.
of flat and T-shaped stiffeners was studied by Bleich (1952), Figs. 3 and 4 show that the present method has predicted
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING I JUNE 1996/677

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.

 1.5,..----------------. eners and three transverse stiffeners; three models with four
longitudinal stiffeners and two transverse stiffeners; one model
with four longitudinal stiffners and three transverse stiffeners;
and two models with four longitudinal stiffeners and four
1.01-----
*:>..
o
..........

~
o 0.5
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o 1.0 2.0 *:...

b
A. ......
~ 0.5
FIG. 3. Strength Curve and Test Results for Longitudinally
Stiffened Plates without Local Buckling E
b

1.5,..----------------.

1.01---"-""----------------,
*0:>" \ Euler o 1.0
1 """ a: lat
o 0.5 "', . FIG. 5. Comparison between Predicted Strength and Test Re-
..................... sults for LongitUdinally Stiffened Plates with Local Buckling

o 1.0 2.0 1.0

A,
FIG. 4. Strength Curve and Test Results for Orthogonally o
Stiffened Plates without Local Buckling

TABLE 1. Comparison between Test Result and Prediction for

o
Test Models Collapsing without Local Buckling o
o
Case of h
(1 )
Number of models
(2)
Mean
(3)
I Standard(4)deviation
(a) Longitudinally stiffened p_la_te_s _

3~ 11~ 1 °_,1_67
g I 1---
(b) Orthogonally stiffened plates
0983
the lower limit for longitudinally stiffened plates and the av-
erage for orthogonally stiffened plates. Therefore, the present
method may be used suitably for the practical design.
Collapse with Local Buckling
_
0-'04-6-3---
o 0.5 1.0
a: lat
FIG. 6. Comparison between Predicted Strength and Test Re-
sults for Orthogonally Stiffened Plates with Local Buckling
TABLE 2. Comparison between Test Result and Prediction for
Test Models Collapsing with Local Buckling

The database (Mikarni et al. 1989) has the experimental re-

sults of 33 models, which are compressed at the centroidal Case of h
(1 )
Number of models
(2)
Mean
(3)
I Standard(4)deviation
axis and are locally buckled under the judgment by (25), (27),
and (30). These models were tested in Japan. The experimental (a) Longitudinally stiffened plates
ate strength (J'max of the models is plotted in Figs. 5 and 6, in
order to compare with the predicted values obtained by the
present method. Fig. 5 shows the test results of 25 solely lon-
gitudinally stiffened plates. Five, nine, eight, and three models
of the 25 have two, three, four, and five longitudinal stiffeners,
respectively. Fig. 6 shows the tests results of eight orthogo-
nally stiffened plates: two models with nine longitudinal stiff-
678/ JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1996

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.

 transverse stiffeners. The mean and the standard deviation of
a max/a: are obtained as shown in Table 2. 1.0
From Figs. 5 and 6 it is found that the present method pre-
dicts the lower limit for both longitudinally and orthogonally
stiffened plates. The present method gives a conservative value
for the strength, and may be used for practical design.
ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF STIFFENED PLATES
UNDER ECCENTRIC COMPRESSION *0::'"
'-....
Effect of Eccentric Compression ~ 0.5
Practical steel structures have many compressive stiffened Ii:
plates reinforced by longitudinal stiffeners being discontinuous o
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through the transverse stiffeners. These stiffened plates are ec-

centrically compressed because they are loaded at the middle
plane of the main plate.
Here, the database (Mikarni et al. 1989) has the experi-
mental results of 45 models loaded at the middle plane of the
main plate. Thirty-nine of the 45 models were tested in Japan.
The experimental ultimate strength a max of the models is o 0.5 1.0
plotted in Figs. 7 and 8 in order to compare with the theoretical
values obtained by the aforementioned method, where the ef-
a: /a;
fect of the eccentric compression is ignored. Fig. 7 shows the FIG. 8. Comparleon between Predicted Strength and Test Re-
test results of 31 longitudinally stiffened plates. Ten, 12, three, .ults for Orthogonally Stiffened Plates under Eccentric Com-
four, and two models have one, two, three, four, and five lon- pre..lon
gitudinal stiffeners, respectively. Fig. 8 shows the test results
of 14 orthogonally stiffened plates: two models with two lon- the ultimate strength for centroidal compression, a:,
obtained
gitudinal stiffeners and one transverse stiffener; three models from the foregoing method and the reduction factor tV as fol-
with two longitudinal stiffeners and two transverse stiffeners; lows:
three models with four longitudinal stiffeners and one trans-
verse stiffener; three models with four longitudinal stiffeners a** a*
-"-=1\1-" (34)
and two transverse stiffeners; and three models with five lon- at at
gitudinal stiffeners and two transverse stiffeners. Figs. 7 and The reduction factor tV can be determined based on the eccen-
8 show that the method gives slightly unconservative values. trically loaded column approach as follows (Mikami and Niwa
The ultimate strength of the stiffened plates under eccentrical 1990):
compression is reduced due to an additional bending moment.
Therefore, the aforementioned method should be modified in 1\1 = 1 (35)
order to apply it to the eccentrically compressed stiffened 1 + O;2eclr 2
plates.
where a column consisting of a plate with width b and one
Ultimate Strength longitudinal stiffener is considered; e =distance from the mid-
dle plane of the plate to the centroid of the column; c = dis-
It is assumed that the ultimate strength of stiffened plates tance between the centroid of the column and the plate surface
under eccentric compression, a:*, can be predicted by using opposite to the longitudinal stiffener; and r = radius of gyra-
tion of the column.

1.0 Comparison with Experimental Results

8 The modified theoretical strength obtained from (34) is
compared with the experimental results of 45 models, shown
in Figs. 7 and 8 and in Figs. 9 and 10, for the longitudinally
and orthogonally stiffened plates, respectively. The mean and
the standard deviation of amax/a:* are obtained as shown in
*::...
o Table 3. It is found from Fig. 9, Fig. 10, and Table 3 that the
'-.... present method may predict the value of the mean-standard
~ 0.5 deviation, and that the reduction factor of (35) is reasonable.
Ii:
o ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF NONUNIFORMLY
STIFFENED PLATES
Sometimes nonuniformly stiffened plates, whose longitudi-
nal stiffeners have different dimensions from each other and
are unequally spaced apart, are used in practice. The nonuni-
formly stiffened plates are regarded as orthotropic plates, and
0.5 1.0 then the foregoing method can be applied to these nonuni-
formly stiffened plates.
a: /a; Effective Parameters
FIG. 7. Comparleon between Predicted Strength and Te.t Re-
sults for Longitudinally Stiffened Plate. under Eccentric Com- In a nonuniformly stiffened plate, the ith longitudinal stiff-
pre.slon ener has flexural rigidity Es,Is' , torsional rigidity GsJSj, and
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1996/679

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.

 TABLE 3. Comparison between Test Result and Prediction for
Test Models under Eccentric Compression

Case of A
(1 )
Number of models
(2)
Mean
(3)
I Standard deviation
(4)
(a) Longitudinally stiffened plates
*o~ 30
I
I 1.18
1.56
I 0.205
'-.....
~ 0.5 (b) Orthogonally stiffened plates
Ii: 0.125
o 0.112
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where D. = flexural rigidity of the orthotropic plate corre-

sponding to the longitudinal stiffeners.
From (36), (37) and (38) can be represented by

a:'la;
FIG. 9. Comparison between Modified Strength and Test Re-
sults for Longitudinally Stiffened Plates under Eccentric Com- (39)
pression
(40)

By equating IIs• with IIse • the flexural rigidity of the ortho-

1.0 tropic plate corresponding to the longitudinal stiffeners is de-
termined as follows:

~
LJ £.1/.1 LJ m
~ 4 {~ • mrYI}2
LJ A mn sm -
2 I_I m-I n-I B
*~
Ds =-B (41)
o 00

2: m 2: A;'"
4
00

'-.....
~
m_l n-t
0.5
Ii: Here, it is assumed that the nonuniformly stiffened plate
o buckles in the mode of one half-wave in both the longitudinal
and the transverse directions. The flexural rigidity of the non-
uniformly stiffened plate is D + D s = D + D-y:, and then
(Mikarni and Niwa 1990)

(42)
o 0.5 1.0
For the nonuniformly stiffened plates, the effective cross-
a:'1a; sectional area ratio of the longitudinal stiffeners. '0:, and the
effective yield stress, at*. are given by (Mikarni and Niwa
FIG. 10. Comparison between Modified Strength and Test Re-
sults for Orthogonally Stiffened Plates under Eccentric Com- 1990)
pression nz n.,

cross-sectional area A si ' The ith single panel has the width hi' 8: = 2 2: A.llt 2: (bl + bl+ l) (43)
I-I 1-1
The deflection shape of the buckled stiffened plate can be

a~* = [ay + 8. i i
represented by
(A.laY.I)/ A.I] /(1 + '0.) (44)
i-I i_I
(36)
Ultimate Strength of Nonuniformly Stiffened Plates
where n = number of half-waves along the transverse buckling The ultimate strength of nonuniformly stiffened plates with-
mode. out local buckling can be obtained from the aforementioned
The strain energy of a longitudinally stiffened plate, II••• method for the uniformly stiffened plates by using (42), (43),
and of an orthotropic plate, IIse> is given by
LiB {2}2 L { 2}2 and (44) instead of (4). (6). and (15). In addition. the local

a; 2:, _i l£.J.I a; buckling strength must also be checked for both the single
.!. +~
i
n,
TI•• = D dx dy dx panels and the longitudinal stiffeners.
2 0 0 a oa y_y,

(37)

r
An Example

TI.c =~ ff (D + D.) {~; dx dy (38) The database (Mikami et al. 1989) has no model of a non-
uniformly stiffened plate. Here, we analyzed the elastoplastic
680 I JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING I JUNE 1996

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.

 finite-displacement behavior of a nonuniformly stiffened plate
by using MSC/NASTRAN. The analyzing stiffened plate has
four longitudinal stiffeners and one large stiffener; has no local
buckling of the single panels or the longitudinal stiffeners un-
der the judgment of the foregoing method; has an imperfec-
tion, i.e., the maximum initial deflection of B/150 and the re-
sidual stresses of 0.3O'y and O'y on the compression side and
the tension side, respectively; and is compressed at its cen-
troidal axis.
The ultimate strength of the stiffened plate is 0'max/O't = 0.91
from the analysis, and O':/O't = 0.76 by the present method.
Thus the ratio of the analytical value to the predicted one,
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0'malO':, is 1.20. The presented method underestimates about
20% for this example.
ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF STIFFENED PLATES
WITH STRINGERS
In the case of orthogonally stiffened plates with some large
longitudinal stringers as well as longitudinal and transverse
stiffeners, each of these stiffened plates must be checked for
the strength of the following types of panels:
1. The total panel of the overall stiffened plate.
2. The total panels between the adjacent large stringers,
having longitudinal and transverse stiffeners.
3. The partial panels between the adjacent transverse stiff-
eners, having longitudinal stiffeners and large stringers.
4. The partial panels bounded by the large stringers and the
transverse stiffeners, having only the longitudinal stiff-
eners.
The ultimate strength of the considering stiffened plates with
some stringers can be obtained by the minimum value of the
strength for the four types of panels. The strength of each type
of panels can be calculated by the aforementioned procedure.
The first and third types of panels may be considered as
nonuniformly stiffened plates reinforced by the longitudinal
stiffeners and the large stringers. On the other hand, the second
and fourth types of panels may be regarded as uniformly stiff-
ened plates.
Comparison with Experimental Results
The database (Mikami et al. 1989) has only one test model,
which has two stringers, nine longitudinal stiffeners, and four
transverse stiffeners, and is subjected to compression at the
centroidal axis. The experimental strength O'max is 0.82O't, and
the predicted one 0': is O. 70O't. Therefore, the ratio of
0'max/O': is 1.17. Thus the present method can also be used
satisfactorily for predicting the ultimate strength of orthogo-
nally stiffened plates with some stringers.
CONCLUSION
An approximate method for predicting ultimate strength was
proposed for orthogonally stiffened plates under uniaxial com-
pression. The present method is based on the orthotropic plate
theory and is suitable for practical design. Also, the present
method can be easily advanced to deal with actual stiffened
steel plates; i.e., under eccentric compression or nonuniformly
stiffened plates with large stringers.
The experimental strength of many test models was used
for comparison, with the ultimate strength predicted by the
present method. The method was found to show good agree-
ment with the experimental results.
APPENDIX I. REFERENCES
Bleich, F. (1952). Buckling strength of metal structures, McGraw-Hill
Book Co., Inc., New York, N.Y.
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DASt-Richtlinie 012. (1979). Beulsicherheisnachweise jilr Platten.
Deutscher Ausschuss fUr Stahlbau. Germany.
Djudek, J., and Skaloud, M. (1977). "Czechoslovak approach to the de-
sign of longitudinally stiffened compression flanges of steel box-girder
bridges." Prelinimary Rep. of Liege Colloquium on Stability of Steel
Struct., ECCS-IABSE, Liege, Belgium, 249-256.
Dubas, P., and Gehri, E. (eds.) (1986). "Behaviour and design of steel
plated structures." ECCS Publ. No. 44, Appl. Statics and Steel Struct.,
Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.
European recommendations for steel constructions. ECCS-EG 77-2E.
(1981). Eur. Convention for Constructional Steelwork, The Construc-
tion Press, London. England.
Giencke, E. (1964a). "Uber die Berechnung regelmassiger Konstrukti-
onen als Kontinuum." Stuhlbau, Germany, 33(1), 1-6.
Giencke, E. (1964b). "Uber die Berechnung regelmassiger Konstrukti-
onen als Kontinuum." Stuhlbau, Germany, 33(2), 39-48.
Massonet, C., and Maquoi, R. (1973). "New theory and tests on the
ultimate strength of stiffened box girders." Steel box girder bridges,
Inst. Civ. Engrs.• London, England, 131-143.
Massonet, C., and Maquoi, R. (1978). "Recent progress in the field of
structural stability of steel structures." IABSE surveys, Zurich, Swit-
zerland, S-5/78, 1-40.
Mikami, I. (1980). "A review on design methods of stiffened compres-
sion flanges." Proc., Japan Soc. ofCiv. Engrg., Tokyo, Japan, No. 297,
123-126 (in Japanese).
Mikami, I. (1985). "Discussion of 'Basic compressive strength of steel
plates from test data' by Y. Fukumoto and Y. Itoh." Proc.• Japan Soc.
of Civ. Engrg., Tokyo, Japan. No. 356, 293-294.
Mikami, I., and Niwa, K. (1990). "Prediction of ultimate compressive
strength of stiffened plates for design." J. Struct. Engrg., Tokyo, Japan,
Vol. 36A, 203-216 (in Japanese).
Mikami, I., Dogaki, M., and Yonezawa, H. (1980). "Inelastic buckling
of continuous stiffened plates under compression." Proc., Japan Soc.
of Civ. Engrg., Tokyo, Japan, No. 298, 17-30 (in Japanese).
Mikami, I., Dogaki, M., and Yonezawa, H. (1983). "A survey of tests
and appraisal of simpler approach on stiffened plates under compres-
sion." Proc., Japan Soc. ofCiv. Engrg., Tokyo, Japan, No. 334,181-
184 (in Japanese).
Mikami, I., Niwa, K., Inoue, Y., and Otani, Y. (1989). "Database of test
results for ultimate strength of stiffened steel plates." J. Struct. Engrg.,
Tokyo, Japan, Vol. 35A, 83-96 (in Japanese).
Nakai, H., Taido, Y., Kitada, T., and Hayashi, H. (1986). "A design
method for orthogonally stiffened plates with or without stringers sub-
jected to uniaxial compression." Proc., Japan Soc. of Civ. Engrg., To-
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Nara, S. (1992). "Evaluation of ultimate strength of longitudinally stiff-
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Tokyo, Japan, Vol. 38A, 223-230 (in Japanese).
Nara, S., Komatsu, S., and Kitada, T. (1988). "A study on ultimate com-
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Tokyo, Japan, No. 392, 273-280 (in Japanese).
Steel. concrete and composite bridges, Part 3. Code ofpractice for design
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posed design specification for steel box girder bridges." Rep. No.
FHWA-TS-80-205, U.S. Dept. of Transp., Federal Hwy. Admin., Ofc.
of Res. and Devel., Washington, D.C.
Yoshida, H., and Maekawa, Y. (1979). "Analysis of buckling strength of
plates with longitudinal and transverse stiffeners." Proc., Japan Soc.
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of stiffened plates using the interaction buckling strength formula." J.
Struct. Engrg., Tokyo, Japan, Vol. 34A, 191-202 (in Japanese).
APPENDIX II. NOTATION
The following symbols are used in this paper:
Amn = integration coefficient;
Art As = cross-sectional area of transverse stiffener and
longitudinal stiffener;
a = spacing of transverse stiffeners;
B = width of plate;
b = spacing of longitudinal stiffeners;
c = distance from plate surface to centroid of column;
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1996/681
 D = flexural rigidity of plate;
D s = flexural rigity of orthotropic-plate-corresponding
longitudinal stiffener;
E, En Es = Young's modulus of plate, transverse stiffener, and
longitudinal stiffener;
e = distance from middle plane of plate to centroid of
column;
On Os = shear modulus of transverse stiffener and longi-
tudinal stiffener;
Ipc = polar moment of inertia of longitudinal stiffener;
In Is = moment of inertia of transverse stiffener and lon-
gitudinal stiffener;
I n J s = torsion constant of transverse stiffener and longi-
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8'1 = effective cross-sectional-area ratio of longitudinal
stiffener of nonuniformly stiffened plate;
=
A buckling parameter of stiffened plate;
Ap = buckling parameter of single panel;
As = buckling parameter of each element of longitudi-
nal stiffener;
Asr = buckling parameter for torsional buckling of lon-
gitudinal stiffener;
v, V n V s = Poisson's ratio of plate, transverse stiffener, and
longitudinal stiffener;
n n..
sc , = strain energy of orthotropic plate and stiffened
plate;
Pp, Ps = effective width of single panel and longitudinal

tudinal stiffener; stiffener;

k= buckling coefficient;
crcr = elastic buckling stress;
crcrr = elastic torsional buckling stress of longitudinal
L = length of plate; stiffener;
m, m r = number of half-waves of longitudinal buckling crmax = experimental strength;
mode of total panel and partial panel; cr. = ultimate strength of stiffened plate without local
n = number of half-waves of transverse buckling buckling;
mode of stiffened plate; crwp, crus = buckling strength of single panel and longitudinal
nn ns = number of transverse stiffener and longitudinal stiffener;
stiffener; cr: = ultimate strength of stiffened plate with local buck-
R = equivalent width-thickness ratio of total panel; ling;
r = radius of gyration; cr:* = ultimate strength of stiffened plate under eccentric
t = thickness of plate; compression;
a, a r = aspect ratio of total panel and partial panel; cry, crYn crYs = yield stress of plate, transverse stiffener, and lon-
ao, a ro = maximum aspect ratio of total panel and partial gitudinal stiffener;
panel, both of which are buckled with one half- cr~ = equivalent yield stress of uniformly stiffened
wave; plate;
13 = width-thickness ratio of plate; cr~* = equivalent yield stress of nonuniformly stiffened
"'fn "'fs = flexural rigidity ratio of transverse stiffener and plate; and
longitudinal stiffener, of uniformly stiffened plate; IjJ = reduction factor of ultimate strength under eccen-
'Y'1 = effective flexural ridigity ratio of longitudinal stiff- tric compression.
ener of nonuniformly stiffened plate;
8s = cross-sectional-area of ratio of longitudinal stiff- Subscript
ener of uniformly stiffened plate; i = any single panel of any longitudinal stiffener.

682/ JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1996

J. Struct. Eng. 1996.122:674-682.