Effective width of a simple edge-stiffener subjected to a stress gradient

摘要

The most recent editions of the North American Design Standards present a unified effective width approach for the design of compressive elements. This paper outlines a comparison of various modifications to the existing procedure used tocalculate the effective width of a simple edge-stiffener subjected to a stress gradient. The comparison involves three methods where the magnitude of the compressive stress is altered, and two stress gradient methods where the plate bucking coefficient is based on the ratio of compressive stresses at the top and bottom of the flat width of the simple edge-stiffener. Analysis of these methods was carried out using specimens tested at the University of Waterloo and data available in the literature. Resultsof the comparison indicate that the variation in statistical values between the five effective width methods is marginal. Therefore, it is recommended that the current procedures used to calculate the effective width of simple edge-stiffeners subjected to a stress gradient remain unchanged in the North American Design Standards.