Laminated stiffened plate - A first ply failure analysis

A first ply failure analysis of composite stiffened plates has been presented using the finite element method. A new scheme has been formulated to model stiffened composite plates. The plate element has been formulated using an eight noded isoparametric quadratic plate bending element. A three noded isoparametric beam element has been used to formulate the stiffener element. The stiffness matrix of the stiffener element has been developed independently and then the stiffness matrix is transferred to that of the plate element. This technique eliminates the restriction on the orientation of the stiffener within the plate element. The formulation has been validated by analysing a number of problems. The results obtained are compared with those available in published literature.