Bending, Buckling and Vibration of Orthotropic Plate-Beam Structures

Abstract

A method is described of estimating elastic deflections and stresses in systems of interconnected rectangular orthotropic plates and single-direction beams, under distributed or concentrated lateral loads combined with compressive or tensile stresses applied either normal to or in the direction of the beams. The effects of initial deformation of beams and plates are included. Elastic buckling loads and modes and natural frequencies and modes of vibration may be computed. The methods described have been incorporated in a family of FORTRAN IV computer programs which are used to obtain a number of illustrative solutions, including:(/) deflections and stresses in an orthogonally stiffened, three-dimensional ship compartment; these are compared with results computed by an alternative finite element method; (//) buckling loads and modes and natural frequencies and modes of vibration for a typical deck structure; these are compared with results calculated by more approximate methods commonly used in design.