Response of stiffened and unstiffened plates subjected to blast loading

This paper describes the results of dynamic analyses carried out on both stiffened and unstiffened panels using both simplified and advanced analytical techniques. For unstiffened panels with inplane restraint along their edges, the dynamic response of an imperfect panel was predicted using a large displacement elastic analysis based on Lagrange's equation, with the panel being treated as a shallow shell, For stiffened panels, the finite element (FE) technique was used to establish the validity of using the simplified technique to predict the inter-stiffener panel displacements for a simply supported panel. A parametric study has been carried out to analyse the effects of in-plane boundary conditions, local stiffener buckling and initial imperfections on the overall response. The significant effect of boundary conditions is demonstrated by including the actual boundary conditions of a test frame in the finite element modelling of a large-scale stiffened floorplate panel used in an experimental test series. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.