Steel Structures
Flexural Response of Eccentrically Stiffened Sector, Annular Sector and Circular Plates
Dr M Salehi, Dr G J Turvey
Circular plate test image
In order to improve the structural efficiency of circular plate structures, such as end closures to cylindrical pressure vessels, a variety of measures may be adopted. For example, ring and/or radial stiffeners may be welded to the end closure, which in turn may be pre-dished. The complete end closure may, from the analysis and design standpoints, be regarded as an eccentrically stiffened circular plate and parts of it as a similarly stiffened sector or annular sector plate. The main thrust of the research was to quantify the effects of the stiffeners on the plate response. A new eccentrically stiffened circular plate theory was developed for both elastic and elasto-plastic response studies. Extensive checking of the theory was undertaken which included correlations with data derived from small scale tests on stiffened circular steel plates. The computer software developed as part of the project has been used to conduct a variety of parametric studies, the results of which are potentially useful for the preliminary design of stiffened circular/annular plates
Further Information
See publications [1, 9, 19, 21, 28 & 43].