Assessment of the stiffened panel performance in the OTEC seawater tank design:Parametric study and sensitivity analysis

Ocean thermal energy conversion(OTEC)is a process of generating electricity by exploiting the temperature difference between warm surface seawater and cold deep seawater.Due to the high static and dynamic pressures that are caused by seawater circulation,the stiffened panel that constitutes a seawater tank may undergo a reduction in ultimate strength.The current paper investigates the design of stiffening systems for OTEC seawater tanks by examining the effects of stiffening parameters such as stiffener sizes and span-over-bay ratio for the applied combined loadings of lateral and transverse pressure by fluid motion and axial compression due to global bending moment.The ultimate strength calculation was conducted by using the non-linear finite element method via the commercial software known as ABAQUS.The stress and deformation distribution due to pressure loads was computed in the first step and then brought to the second step,in which the axial compression was applied.The effects of pressure on the ultimate strength of the stiffener were investigated for representative stiffened panels,and the significance of the stiffener parameters was assessed by using the sensitivity analysis method.As a result,the ultimate strength was reduced by approximately 1.5%for the span-over-bay ratio of 3 and by 7%for the span-over-bay ratio of 6.

Formulation of Reduction Rate for Ultimate Compressive Strength of Stiffened Panel Induced by Opening

The main objective of this study is to numerically investigate the characteristics of ultimate compressive strength of stiffened panels with opening and also to fit the design-oriented formulae. For this purpose, three series of well executed experimental data on longitudinally stiffened steel plates with and without opening subjected to the uniform axial in-pane load which is carried out to study the buckling and post-buckling up to the final failure are chosen. Also, a nonlinear finite element method capable of efficiently analyzing the large elasto-plastic deflection behavior of stiffened panels is developed and used for simulation. The feasibility of the present simulation process is confirmed by a good agreement with the experimental results. More case studies are developed employing the simulation process to analyze the influence of various design variables on the reduction rate of ultimate strength of stiffened panel induced by opening. Based on the computed results, two design formulae are fitted and the accuracy of design formulae is studied. Furthermore, the viability of the design formulae for practical engineering is proved.

Reliability of the Ultimate Strength of Ship Stiffened Panel Subjected to Random Corrosion Degradation

Attentions have been increasingly paid to the influence of the corrosion on the ultimate strength of ship structures. In consideration of the random characteristics of the corrosion of ship structures, the method for the ultimate strength analysis of the ship stiffened panel structure subjected to random corrosion degradation is presented. According to the measured corrosion data of the bulk carriers, the distribution characteristics of the corrosion data for the stiffened panel on the midship deck are analyzed, and a random corrosion model is established. The ultimate strength of the corroded stiffened panel is calculated by lhe nonlinear finite element analysis. The statistical descriptions of the ultimate strength of the corroded stiffened panel are defined through the Monte Carlo simulations. A formula is proposed on the ultimate strength reduction of the stiffened panel as a function of the corrosion volume. The reliability analysis of the ultimate strength of the corroded deck stiffened panel is performed. It shows that both the corrosion data of the deck stiffened panel and the ultimate strength of the random corroded deck stiffened panel follow the log-normal distribution. The ultimate stress ratio of the stiffened panel is inversely proportional to the corrosion volume ratio.

Structural-acoustic optimization of stiffened panels based on a genetic algorithm

For the structural-acoustic radiation optimization problem under external loading,acoustic radiation power was considered to be an objective function in the optimization method. The finite element method(FEM) and boundary element method(BEM) were adopted in numerical calculations,and structural response and the acoustic response were assumed to be de-coupled in the analysis. A genetic algorithm was used as the strategy in optimization. In order to build the relational expression of the pressure objective function and the power objective function,the enveloping surface model was used to evaluate pressure in the acoustic domain. By taking the stiffened panel structural-acoustic optimization problem as an example,the acoustic power and field pressure after optimized was compared. Optimization results prove that this method is reasonable and effective.

Numerical Analysis of Static Performance Comparison of Friction Stir Welded versus Riveted 2024-T3 Aluminum Alloy Stiffened Panels

Most researches on the static performance of stiffened panel joined by friction stir welding（FSW） mainly focus on the compression stability rather than shear stability. To evaluate the potential of FSW as a replacement for traditional rivet fastening for stiffened panel assembly in aviation application, finite element method（FEM） is applied to compare compression and shear stability performances of FSW stiffened panels with stability performances of riveted stiffened panels. FEMs of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy FSW and riveted stiffened panels are developed and nonlinear static analysis method is applied to obtain buckling pattern, buckling load and load carrying capability of each panel model. The accuracy of each FEM of FSW stiffened panel is evaluated by stability experiment of FSW stiffened panel specimens with identical geometry and boundary condition and the accuracy of each FEM of riveted stiffened panel is evaluated by semi-empirical calculation formulas. It is found that FEMs without considering weld-induced initial imperfections notably overestimate the static strengths of FSW stiffened panels. FEM results show that, buckling patterns of both FSW and riveted compression stiffened panels represent local buckling of plate between stiffeners. The initial buckling waves of FSW stiffened panel emerge uniformly in each plate between stiffeners while those of riveted panel mainly emerge in the mid-plate. Buckling patterns of both FSW and riveted shear stiffened panels represent local buckling of plate close to the loading corner. FEM results indicate that, shear buckling of FSW stiffened panel is less sensitive to the initial imperfections than compression buckling. Load carrying capability of FSW stiffened panel is less sensitive to the initial imperfections than initial buckling. It can be concluded that buckling loads of FSW panels are a bit lower than those of riveted panels whereas carrying capabilities of FSW panels are almost equivalent to those of riveted panels with identical geometries. Finite element method for simulating static performances of FSW and riveted stiffened panels is proposed and evaluated and some beneficial conclusions are obtained, which offer useful references for analysis and application of FSW to replace rivet fastening in aviation stiffened panel assembly.

Study on Ultimate Compressive Strength of Aluminium-Alloy Plates and Stiffened Panels

This work reviews the ultimate compressive strength of aluminium plates and stiffened panels.The effect of boundary condition,initial imperfection,welding-induced residual stress and heat-affected zone are discussed.As the effect of manufacturing technology lacks in the literature,this effect is analysed employing the finite element method,considering the technology of welding and integrated extrusion.The numerical analyses have shown that the ultimate strength of the integrated extruded stiffened panel is relatively higher than the one of the traditional welded panel.

Ultimate Compressive Strength Prediction for Stiffened Panels by Counterpropagation Neural Networks(CPN)

Stiffened Panels are important strength members in ship and offshore structures. A new method based on counterpropagation neural networks (CPN) is proposed in this paper to predict the ultimate compressive strength of stiffened panels. Compared with two-parametric polynomial, this method can take more parameters into account and make more use of experimental data. Numerical study is carried out to verify the validation of this method. The new method may find wide application in practical design.

Residual Strength of Stiffened LY12CZ Aluminum Alloy Panels with Widespread Fatigue Damage

Experimental and analytical investigations on the residual strength of the stiffened LY12CZ aluminum alloy panels with widespread fatigue damage （WFD） are conducted. Nine stiffened LY12CZ aluminum alloy panels with three different types of damage are tested for residual strength. Each specimen is pre-cracked at rivet holes by saw cuts and subjected to a monotonically increasing tensile load until failure is occurred and the failure load is recorded. The stress intensity factors at the tips of the lead crack and the adjacent WFD cracks of the stiffened aluminum alloy panels are calculated by compounding approach and finite element method （FEM） respectively. The residual strength of the stiffened panels with WFD is evaluated by the engineering method with plastic zone linkup criterion and the FEM with apparent fracture toughness criterion respectively. The predicted residual strength agrees well with the experiment results. It indicates that in engineering practice these methods can be used for residual strength evaluation with the acceptable accuracy. It can be seen from this research that WFD can significantly reduce the residual strength and the critical crack length of the stiffened panels with WFD. The effect of WFD crack length on residual strength is also studied.

An Optimization Approach for Stiffener Layout of Composite Stiffened Panels Based on Moving Morphable Components(MMCs)

An explicit topology optimization method for the stiffener layout of composite stiffened panels is proposed based on moving morphable components(MMCs).The skin and stiffeners are considered as panels with different bending stiffnesses,with the use of equivalent stiffness method.Then the location and geometric properties of composite stiffeners are determined by several MMCs to perform topology optimization,which can greatly simplify the finite element model.With the objective of maximizing structural stiffness,several typical cases with various loading and boundary conditions are selected as numerical examples to demonstrate the proposed method.The numerical examples illustrate that the proposed method can provide clear stiffener layout and explicit geometry information,which is not limited within the framework of parameter and size optimization.The mechanical properties of composite stiffened panels can be fully enhanced.

Guided wave propagation analysis in stiffened panel using time-domain spectral finite element method

Stiffened panels have been widely utilized in fuselages and wings as critical load-bearing components. These structures are prone to be damaged under long-term and extreme loads, and their health monitoring has been a common concern. The guided wave-based monitoring method is regarded as an efficient approach to detect the damage in stiffened plates because of its wide monitoring range and high sensitivity to micro-damage. Efficient simulation of wave propagation can theoretically demonstrate the detection mechanism of the method. In this study, a Time-Domain Spectral Finite Element Method(TD-SFEM) is adopted to study the wavefield in stiffened plates,where continuous Absorbing Layers with Increasing Damping(ALID) strategy is proposed to circumvent the disturbance of reflected waves on boundaries. After the convergence analysis, the developed TD-SFEM with ALID is validated by the finite element method first. Then, wave scattering and the influence of the stiffener are investigated in detail by comparing the results with the non-stiffened structure. Finally, the effects of the parameters of the stiffener, such as the height and width, on wave propagation are studied, respectively. The results illustrate that the proposed TDSFEM with ALID is an efficient approach to study the wave propagation in the stiffened plate and can reveal the mechanism of influence of the stiffener. It is found that the height of the stiffener changes the interference of wavefield in the plate, while the effects of the width are mainly in wave scattering and mode conversion.

A Study on the Effect of Welding Sequence in Fabrication of Large Stiffened Plate Panels

Welding sequence has a significant effect on distortion pattern of large orthogonally stiffened panels normally used in ships and offshore structures. These deformations adversely affect the subsequent fitup and alignment of the adjacent panels. It may also result in loss of structural integrity. These panels primarily suffer from angular and buckling distortions. The extent of distortion depends on several parameters such as welding speed, plate thickness, welding current, voltage, restraints applied to the job while welding, thermal history as well as sequence of welding. Numerical modeling of welding and experimental validation of the FE model has been carried out for estimation of thermal history and resulting distortions. In the present work an FE model has been developed for studying the effect of welding sequence on the distortion pattern and its magnitude in fabrication of orthogonally stiffened plate panels.

Experimental and numerical studies on buckling and post-buckling behavior of T-stiffened variable stiffness panels

Currently,experimental research on variable stiffness design mainly focuses on laminates.To ensure adaptability in practical application,it is imperative to conduct a systematic study on stiffened variable stiffness structures,including design,manufacture,experiment,and simulation.Based on the minimum curvature radius and process schemes,two types of T-stiffened panels were designed and manufactured.Uniaxial compression tests have been carried out and the results indicate that the buckling load of variable stiffness specimens is increased by 26.0%,while the failure load is decreased by 19.6%.The influence mechanism of variable stiffness design on the buckling and failure behavior of T-stiffened panels was explicated by numerical analysis.The primary reason for the reduced strength is the significantly increased load bearing ratio of stiffeners.As experimental investigations of stiffened variable stiffness structures are very rare,this study can be considered a reference for future work.

裂纹加筋和缺口加筋对钢加筋板极限强度的影响

This paper numerically evaluates the effect of the crack position on the ultimate strength of stiffened panels.Imperfections such as notches and cracks in aged marine stiffened panels can reduce their ultimate strength.To investigate the effect of crack length and position,a series of nonlinear finite element analyses were carried out and two cases were considered,i.e.,case 1 with thin stiffeners and case 2 with thick stiffeners.In both cases,the stiffeners have the same cross-section area.To have a basis for comparison,the intact panels were modeled as well.The cracks and notches were in the longitudinal and transverse direction and were assumed to be in the middle part of the panel.The cracks and notches were assumed to be through the thickness and there is neither crack propagation nor contact between crack faces.Based on the numerical results,longitudinal cracks affect the behavior of the stiffened panels in the postbuckling region.When the stiffeners are thinner,they buckle first and provide no reserved strength after plate buckling.Thus,cracks in the stiffeners do not affect the ultimate strength in the case of the thinner stiffeners.Generally,when stiffeners are thicker,they affect the postbuckling behavior more.In that case,cracks in the stiffeners affect the buckling and failure modes of the stiffened panels.The effect of notch was also studied.In contrast to the longitudinal crack in stiffeners,a notch in the stiffeners reduces the ultimate strength of the stiffened panel for both slender and thick stiffeners.

Three-dimensional Cure Simulation of Stiffened Thermosetting Composite Panels

Stiffened thermosetting composite panels were fabricated with co-curing processing.In the co-curing processing,the temperature distribution in the composite panels was nonuniform.An investigation into the threedimensional cure simulation of T-shape stiffened thermosetting composite panels was presented.Flexible tools and locating tools were considered in the cure simulation.Temperature distribution in the composites was predicted as a function of the autoclave temperature history.A nonlinear transient heat transfer finite element model was developed to simulate the curing process of stiffened thermosetting composite panels.And a simulation example was presented to demonstrate the use of the present finite element procedure for analyzing composite curing process.The glass/polyester structure was investigated to provide insight into the nonuniform cure process and the effect of flexible tools and locating tools on temperature distribution.Temperature gradient in the intersection between the skin and the flange was shown to be strongly dependent on the structure of the flexible tools and the thickness of the skin.

Ultimate Strength Assessment of a Tanker Hull Based on Experimentally Developed Master Curves

A geometrically similar scaling was made from small-scale specimen to full-scale stiffened panels and then their collapse behaviour is investigated. It is considered that the stiffened panel compressive ultimate strength test was designed according to geometrical scaling laws so that the output of the test could be used as representative of the stiffened panels of the compressive zone of a tanker hull subjected to vertical bending moment. The ultimate strength of a tanker hull is analysed by a FE analysis using the experimentally developed master stress-strain curves which are obtained by the beam tension test and the compressive test of the stiffened panel, and are then compared with the result achieved by the progressive collapse method.

Review on residual stress and its effects on manufacturing of aluminium alloy structural panels with typical multi-processes

In the aerospace industry,integrated aluminium alloy plates and stiffened panels with high accuracy and performance attract significant interest.To manufacture these panels as integrity with high accuracy,multiple processes need to be utilised,such as machining,welding and forming.During the whole manufacturing chain,residual stresses can be generated and redistributed in the components among different processes.The residual stress would significantly affect the shapes and properties of the final products.Currently,these great effects are not well considered in the design and manufacturing processes.This paper aims to draw a general understanding of the residual stress generated in the pre-manufacturing processes and its effects on subsequent manufacturing processes.The mechanisms and distributions of residual stresses generated in typical premanufacturing processes of structural panels,including machining,welding and additive manufacturing(AM),are firstly summarised.The detailed effects of generated residual stresses on distortion and application properties in subsequent manufacturing processes are then concluded.In addition,current methods developed for the investigation of residual stress effect in multi-processes manufacturing are critically reviewed,including experimental,analytical,finite element(FE)and machine learning methods.Furthermore,the future development trend of methods for residual stress consideration and control in the design of manufacturing processes is summarised,providing comprehensive guidance to achieve the high accurate manufacturing of aluminium alloy structural components.

Influence of local stiffeners and cutout shapes on the vibration and stability characteristics of quasi-isotropic laminates under hygro-thermo-mechanical loadings

The perforated stiffened panel is generally found as a sub-component of sophisticated structures.The fundamental purpose of this panel is to withstand against buckling under complicated loading and environmental conditions.Hence,an accurate knowledge of critical buckling behaviour of stiffened panels is very much essential for a reliable and lightweight structural design.In this paper,the focus is on quasi-laminated panels with different cutout shapes of various sizes and their responses to hygrothermal environments under nonlinearly varying edge loads and is compared with the locally stiffened panels.Towards this,the modelling of the panel and stiffener is done by adopting nine-noded heterosis plate elements and three noded beam elements respectively.The stiffener formulation is suitably modified in order to take the torsional effect also into consideration along with the effect of shear deformation.Initially,the plate and the stiffener elements are treated separately,and then the displacement compatibility is maintained between them by using the transformation matrix.For a given loading and geometric discontinuity,the stress distribution within the perforated panel is highly non-uniform in nature and hence a dynamic approach has been used to calculate buckling loads by adopting two sets of boundary conditions,one set for pre-buckling stress analysis and the second set for buckling analysis.Four different quasi-isotropic stacking sequences are deliberated in this work by varying different ply-orientation in each scheme.The study also addresses the effect of various parameters such as nonlinear loads,hygro-thermal loads,cutout size and shapes,position of cutout,stiffener parameters,stacking sequences,thickness of plate and boundary conditions.