Effects of anchoring tensile stresses in axially loaded plates and sections

Thin-walled compression members are commonly designed on the assumption that the loaded edges remain straight. Under this assumption, tensile stresses develop in the most flexible parts of the component plates at advanced local buckling deformation, and thus are assumed to be ‘anchored’ at the ends. However, current design rules for plate elements, such as the Winter formulae, are partly based on tests in which the load was applied by use of rigid platens that did not permit tensile stresses to develop. There exists an apparent inconsistency between the assumption of straight loaded edges and the use of a design curve calibrated from tests in which the loaded edges of component plates may not have remained straight. aper addresses this apparent inconsistency by comparing finite element solutions for the conditions of straight loaded edges and loading by use of a contact surface between the plate edge and a non-deformable rigid body end platen, where there is no constraint for the plate edge to remain in contact with the rigid body. Solutions are provided for a single half-wavelength of unstiffened and stiffened plate elements simply supported along three and four edges, respectively. The effect of multiple half-wavelengths is also investigated, as is the effect of interaction between elements in practical sections comprising stiffened and unstiffened elements.