A compound strip method for static and buckling analyses of thin-walled members with transverse stiffeners

The objective of this study is to propose and develop a Compound Strip Method (CSM) for static and buckling analyses of thin-walled members with transverse stiffeners. Traditionally thin-walled members are analyzed as prismatic members using computationally efficient methods such as the popular Finite Strip Method (FSM) - spline or semi-analytical. However, with structural systems getting more complicated and also for seeking better performance, transverse components that render the members no longer prismatic are possible, such as spaced transverse stiffeners along the member length. Existing FSM cannot take into account the stiffeners' effect in the present form. Hence, this study presents a new compound strip method (CSM) based on the spline FSM for static and buckling analyses of thin-walled members with transverse stiffeners. The transverse stiffeners are modeled with shell element formulation by considering in-plane deformation. Transverse stiffeners can be placed flexibly along the member length in the proposed CSM. The developed CSM is then used to analyze plates and thin-walled members with transverse stiffeners. The accuracy of the method is validated with shell finite element solutions through static and buckling analyses of those members. Meanwhile, the impact of transverse stiffeners on the members' buckling modes is also revealed by the analyses.