Stiffness requirements for transverse stiffeners of rectangular CFT compression panels

This paper presents a more rational calculation of the minimum stiffness required for transverse stiffeners of stiffened concrete filled tube (CFT) compression panels. As longitudinal stiffeners are essentially compression members, transverse stiffeners are required to control the effective length. Both the longitudinal stiffener and transverse stiffener subdivide the compression panel in a grid pattern so the relatively thin plate can carry the induced compressive load in the most efficient manner. However, the provisions for the required rigidity of transverse stiffeners in the literature are inconsistent in general and in particular; do not exist in the case of the concrete filled compression panels. Here, the parameters that govern the behavior of the transverse stiffeners are identified theoretically using the column buckling approximation. In order to calibrate and quantify the analytical equations developed, incremental nonlinear analyses were performed on a large number of finite-element models. The numerically collected data were then used to validate the equations developed.