A new finite element for buckling analysis of laminated stiffened plates

A new stiffened plate element for stability analysis of laminated stiffened plates has been presented. The basic plate element is a combination of Allman's plane stress triangular element and a Discrete Kirchhoff–Mindlin plate bending element. The element includes transverse shear effects. The model accommodates any number of arbitrarily oriented stiffeners within the plate element and eliminates constraints on the mesh division of the plate. The element has no problem associated with shear locking – a phenomenon usually encountered in isoparametric elements. The stability analysis of laminated stiffened plates has been carried out under different loading conditions with the present element.