FEM Analysis on Circular Stiffened plates using ANSYS

A Thesis Submitted to

National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

In Partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

Bachelor of Technology

in

Mechanical Engineering

By

Biswa Prakash Sukla

109ME0424

Department of Mechanical Engineering

National Institute of Technology

Rourkela -769008 (India)

i
FEM Analysis on Circular Stiffened plates using ANSYS

A Thesis Submitted to

National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

(Deemed University)

In Partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

Bachelor of Technology,

In

Mechanical Engineering

By

Biswa Prakash Sukla

Under the guidance of

Prof. Anirban Mitra

Department of Mechanical Engineering

National Institute of Technology

Rourkela -769008 (India)

ii
 National Institute of Technology

Rourkela

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled FEM Analysis of Circular Stiffened plates using ANSYS

submitted to the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (Deemed University) by

Biswa Prakash Sukla, Roll No. 109ME0424 for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of

Technology in Mechanical Engineering is a record of bonafide research work carried out by him

under my supervision and guidance. The results presented in this thesis has not been, to the best of

my knowledge, submitted to any other University or Institute for the award of any degree or diploma.

The thesis, in my opinion, has reached the standards fulfilling the requirement for the award of the

degree of Bachelor of technology in accordance with regulations of the Institute.

Supervisor

Prof. ANIRBAN MITRA

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a great pleasure to express my gratitude and indebtedness to my

supervisor Prof. Anirban Mitra for his guidance, encouragement, moral support and

affection through the course of my work.

I am also sincerely thankful to Prof K.P. Maithy, Head of the Department of

Mechanical Engineering, NIT Rourkela for the allotment of this project and also for his

continuous encouragement.

Last but not the least I would like to extend my heartful gratitude to all

other faculty members of Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Rourkela for their

valuable advises and constant support at every stage of the completion of the project.

Biswa Prakash Sukla,

ROLL NO: 109ME0424

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ROURKELA-769008

iv
ABSTRACT

In the present world, the increasing demand of structurally efficient and significantly higher

strength to weight ratio structures is mostly served by Stiffened plates. These structural elements

can be defined as plates reinforced by a single or a set of beams or ribs on one or both sides of

the plate. So, stiffened plates are made up of plate elements, to which generally loading is

applied, and beam elements located at discrete spacings in one or both directions. The present

work deals with the structural behavior of a stiffened plate under static uniform loads. Firstly, we

will consider a geometrically nonlinear beam problem by analyzing the large deflections of a

beam of linear elastic material, under the action of transverse load along its length. Under the

action of these external loads, the beam deflects into a curve called the elastic curve. Firstly, the

relationship between the beam deflection and the loads would be established using Ansys and

then the results would be extended to perform analysis on Stiffened plates. Stiffened plates can

also be circular in shape with either radial or circumferential stiffeners. The present work aims to

analyze a circular plate with radial stiffeners. The linear and nonlinear behavior of the beams

would be studied under static and dynamic loading .The simulation analysis is completed with a

numerical analysis of the system using the ANSYS program, a comprehensive finite element

package, which enables students to solve the nonlinear differential equation. ANSYS provides a

rich graphics capability that can be used to display results of analysis on a high-resolution

graphics workstation.

v
CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Need for Stiffened plates .. 1

1.2 Aim of the Present Work .. 4

1.3 Methodology adopted 5

1.4 Behavior of cantilever beams under uniform loading ..7

2 LITERATURE SURVEY 10

3 ANALYSIS .. 12

3.1 Procedure for performing non-linear analysis on a cantilever beam (point load ).13

3.2 Procedure for performing non-linear analysis on a cantilever beam (uniform loading)16

3.3 Procedure for performing non-linear analysis on a circular

Stiffened plate 17

3.3.1 Geometric modeling ..17

3.3.2 Non-linear analysis on the stiffened plate ..18

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 19

4.1 Result Validation 20

4.2 Variation of the inner radius of annular plates .21

4.2.1 Load Vs Maximum Deflection..22

4.2.2 Deflection Profile of the stiffened plates............23

4.3 Behavior of circular stiffened plates... .24

5 CONCLUSION ..27

6 REFRENCES . ..30

vi
 LIST OF FIGURES:

3.1 Values that are fed in Soln Control for non-linear analysis 14

3.2 Nodal diagram of a cantilever beam..............................................................15

3.3 Selection of center and inner and outer radii...17

3.4 Values that are fed in Soln Control for non-linear analysis...18

4.1 Diagram of the stiffened plate 20

4.2 Load Vs. Deflection graph with variation of inner radius (thickness=20mm).21

4.3 Load vs. Deflection graph with variation of inner radius (thickness=15mm) 21

4.4 Load vs. Deflection graph with variation of inner radius (thickness=10mm)......22

4.5 Deflection profile of circular plate ..22

4.6 Deflection profile of annular plate..23

4.7 Geometry of plate with one stiffener23

4.8 Geometry of plate with two stiffeners..24

4.9 Load vs. deflection of plate with stiffeners25

4.10 Deflection profile of plate with one stiffener..25

4.11 Deflection profile of plate with two stiffeners26

vii
.Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 NEED FOR STIFFENED PLATES:

In the present world, the demand for structures with high stiffness is increasing day by day.

One of the ways to deal with it is by using stiffeners. Countless mechanical structures are

composed of stiffened plates. These structural elements can be defined as plates reinforced by

a single or a set of beams or ribs on one or both sides of the plate. So, stiffened plates are

made up of plate elements, to which generally loading is applied, and the beam elements are

attached at discrete spacing in one or both directions. The material of the plate and stiffener

can be identical or different. The main advantage of using stiffened plates is their

significantly high stiffness to weight ratio compared to unstiffened plates[5]. Due to the

increase in overall stiffness of the system, enhanced load carrying capacity and stability

characteristics are obtained. So, it can be said that these are structurally efficient components

that also have the added benefit of material savings and subsequent, economic and cost-

effective design. Another advantage of stiffened plates is that they can be fabricated with ease

and simplicity. Hence, it is no surprise that such structural components find wide-spread

utilization in modern branches of civil, mechanical, structural and construction engineering.

Stiffened plates are subjected to various types of loading conditions in their working

environment. For instance, in case of bridge decks the stiffened plates are under lateral or

transverse loads. On the other hand, longitudinal bending of the ship hull exerts longitudinal

in-plane axial compression on the plates. The loading conditions on a component can be

broadly classified into two classes, static (invariant with time) and dynamic loading (varies

with time). Hence, the design of the plates must be carried out keeping in mind these two

aspects of loading. Considerations for static design include desired load carrying capacities

and deformations within prescribed limits, while, design based on dynamic considerations

deals with mechanical behavior with respect to time varying excitations.

2
Applications of Stiffened Plates:

1. In aerospace and marine constructions, where minimization of weight of the

components is of paramount interest, stiffened plates find extensive application.

2. They are used in off-shore constructions like oil rigs, marine constructions such as

ship and submarine hulls, decks and bridges of ships.

3. In aerospace applications, aircraft wings are made out of stiffened plates. Apart from

that they are also utilized in making advanced rocket launching structures.

4. Stiffened plates are of common occurrence in the field of highway bridges and

elevated roadways, where they are generally employed to build the bridge decks.

5. Among land based structures, lock gates, box girders, plate girders etc. are also some

of the fields of application for such plates.

6. In some building structures floor slab systems are often made out of these components

in order to avoid uncomfortable vibrations.

7. There are some examples of stiffened plates being used in railway wagons, cargo

containers, goods vehicle sidewalls etc.

In fact, there are virtually innumerable engineering applications of these components, which

only serve to underline their efficiency, as well as their importance.

3
1.2 AIM OF THE PRESENT WORK:

In the present world, the increasing demand of structurally efficient and significantly higher

strength to weight ratio structures is mostly served by Stiffened plates. The present work

deals with the structural behavior of a stiffened plate under static uniform loads. Firstly, we

will consider a geometrically nonlinear beam problem by analyzing the large deflections of a

beam of linear elastic material, under the action of transverse load along its length. Under

external loads, the beam deflects into a curve that is called the elastic curve. Firstly, the

relationship between the beam deflection and the loads would be established using Ansys and

then the results would be extended to perform analysis on Stiffened plates. Stiffened plates

can also be circular in shape with either radial or circumferential stiffeners. The present work

aims to analyze a circular plate with radial stiffeners. The linear and nonlinear behavior of the

beams would be studied under static loading .The simulation analysis is completed with a

numerical analysis of the system using the ANSYS program which is a comprehensive finite

element package that enables the students to solve the nonlinear differential equations.

ANSYS provides a rich graphics capability that can be used to display results of analysis on a

high-resolution graphics workstation.

4
1.3 METHODOLOGY:

The analysis is done using Finite Element Method and the simulation is done using ANSYS.

The advantage of using the FEM methodology is that unlimited number of stiffeners can be

added to the model, which can be placed at any direction inside the plate element. The

formulation accepts eccentric and concentric stiffeners of different cross-sections.

Finite Element Method:

The finite element method (FEM) (its practical application often known as finite element

analysis (FEA) is a numerical technique for finding approximate solutions to partial

differential equations (PDE) and their systems, as well as (less often) integral equations. In

simple terms, FEM has an in built algorithm which divides very large problems (in terms of

complexity) into small elements which can be solved in relation to each other. FEM solves

the equations using the Galerkin method with polynomial approximation functions. The

solution is obtained by eliminating the spatial derivatives from the partial differential

equation. This approximates the PDE with

a system of algebraic equations for steady state problems

a system of ordinary differential equations for transient problems.

These equation systems are linear if the corresponding PDE is linear and vice versa.

Algebraic equation systems are solved using numerical linear algebra methods. The ordinary

differential equations that arise in transient problems are numerically integrated using

techniques such as Euler's method or the Runge-Kutta method.

In solving PDEs, the major problem is to create an equation that approximates the equation

to be analyzed, but is numerically stable, meaning that errors in the input and intermediate

5
calculations do not accumulate and cause the resulting output to be meaningless. There are

many ways of doing this, which have their respective pros and cons. The finite element

method is considered to be the best way for solving PDEs over complicated domains (like

cars and oil pipelines), but when the domain changes for example in a moving boundary solid

state reaction when the desired precision varies over the entire domain, or when the solution

is not smooth. For example in a frontal car crash simulation where we need more accurate

results in the front of the car and hence we can reduce the simulation cost in the rear end.

Another instance is in weather prediction (which is done numerically), where it is more

important to have accurate predictions over highly developing nonlinear phenomena

(unpredictable natural calamities which happen, like cyclones) rather than relatively calm

environment.

Geometric Non-Linearity:

Structures whose stiffness is dependent on the displacement which they may undergo are

termed geometrically nonlinear. Geometric nonlinearity is responsible for stiffening of a

loaded clamped plate, and buckling behavior in slender structures and components etc. It is

necessary to take these effects into account for the computer simulation to predict the

behavior accurately.

Material Non-Linearity:

Material Nonlinearity refers to the ability for a material to exhibit a nonlinear stress-strain

(constitutive) response. Elasto-plastic, hyper-elastic, crushing, and cracking are good

examples. Material non-linearity can also include temperature and time-dependent effects

such as visco-elasticity or visco-plasticity. Material nonlinearity occurs due to some form of

internal decomposition, characterized by a gradual weakening of the structural response as an

increasing force is applied.

6
The analysis is done in a numerical way by the ANSYS program, a finite element package,

which enables us to solve the linear and the nonlinear PDEs and thus the modulus of

elasticity of the beam material is obtained . ANSYS is modeling and analysis software which

helps in the modeling and analysis of required models, a FEM tool. It is used to analyze

complex problems in mechanical structures, thermal processes, electrical fields, magnetics,

and computational fluid dynamics. ANSYS provides a rich graphics environment, which is

used to display results of analysis that re performed.

1.4 BEHAVIOUR OF CANTILEVER BEAM UNDER UNIFORM LOADING:

Beams are common elements of many architectural, civil and mechanical engineering

structures and the study of the bending of straight beams forms an important and essential

part of the study of the broad field of mechanics of materials and structural mechanics. All

undergraduate courses on these topics include the analysis of the bending of beams, but only

small deflections of the beam are usually considered. In such as case, the differential equation

that governs the behavior of the beam is linear and can be easily solved. But as the load

increases non-linearity comes into play. This can be demonstrated using a very simple

experiment i.e. bending of a cantilever beam. The mathematical treatment of the equilibrium

of this system does not involve great difficulty. Nevertheless, unless small deflections are

considered, an analytical solution does not exist, since for large deflections a differential

equation with a nonlinear term must be solved [7]. The problem is said to involve geometric

nonlinearity. This type of nonlinearity is related to the nonlinear behavior of deformable

bodies, such as beams, plates and shells, when the relationship between the extensional

strains and shear strains, on the one hand, and the displacement, on the other, is taken to be

nonlinear, resulting in nonlinear strain-displacement relationships.

7
Definition of static analysis:

A static analysis determines the effects of steady loading conditions on a structure, while

ignoring inertia and damping effects, such as those caused by time varying loads.

A static analysis contains steady inertia loads, and time varying loads that can be assumed as

static equivalent loads (such as static equivalent wind).

Static analysis is used to calculate the stresses, displacements, strains, and forces in structures

caused by loads that do not contain inertia and damping effects. We assume that in steady

loading the loads and the structures response vary slowly with respect to time.

Various types of loading that can be applied in a static analysis are:

Externally applied forces and pressure.

Steady-state inertial forces (such as gravity).

Nonzero displacements.

Temperatures (for thermal strain).

Linear Vs. Nonlinear Analysis:

A static analysis can be either linear or nonlinear. We can allow all types of nonlinearities

such as large deflections, plasticity, creep, stress stiffening, contact (gap) elements, hyper-

elastic elements etc.

8
Information about nonlinear analysis

Ansys employs the Newton-Raphson approach to solve nonlinear problems. In this, the

load is subdivided into a series of load increments. Load increments are applied in several

load steps.

A nonlinear analysis is organized into three level of operations:

The top level consists of the load steps that you define explicitly over a time span.

Loads are assumed to vary linearly within load steps (for static analysis).

Within each load step, you can direct the program to perform several solutions to

apply the load gradually [6].

At each sub step, the program will perform a number of equilibrium iterations to

obtain a converged solution [6].

9
Chapter 2

LITERATURE SURVEY
10
Year Author Journal, Theoretical/ Software Method Material Findings

Vol, Analytical/ used used used

Page Experimental/

Statistical

1999 Manoranjan Numerical and C++ Newton- ACM Various

Barik theoritical Raphson Element classes of

Iteration plates were

analyzed

and results

correlated.

1997 G.J Tuvey, Vol. 63 Numerical Ansys Dynamic NA

Relaxation
M. salehi
No-4
Algorithm

pp.775-

783

2011 Anirban Mathematical FORTRAN Energy Aluminium Dynamic

behavior
Mitra, methods furnished
in the
Prasanta
form of
Sahoo back
bone
curves

11
Chapter 3

ANALYSIS
12
3.1 PROCEDURE FOR PERFORMING NON LINEAR ANALYSIS ON A

CANTILEVER BEAM:

1. Go to Preferences->select structural

2. Then Pre-processor->Element Type ->Add/Edit->Select Solid tet 10 node 187 from the list

of the elements

3. Material Properties ->Material Models -> select Structural-> linear ->elastic->isotropic->

values of EX and PRXY were given (71.7e09, 0.33 respectively ).

4. Modeling ->Create -> Areas -> rectangular -> By dimensions

5. Modeling->Operate->extrude ->Areas->along Normal (required dimension was fed)

6. Meshing ->Mesh Tool (smart size and the shape of the mesh were chosen and then the

structure was meshed)

7. Go to Solution ->analysis Type -> Soln Control-> and the following values were fed as

shown in the figure 3.1

13
 Figure 3.1 Values that are fed in Soln Control

8. Define Loads ->Structural-> Displacement ->On areas (the face which are to be fixed are selected

and the displacement value is set to 0)

9. Define loads ->Structural->force/moment->On Nodes (where the required node is selected from the

list of nodes)

14
 Fig 3.2 Nodal diagram of a cantilever beam

10. Solve ->Current LS

In order to obtain the deformed shape

Go to General Postproc ->Plot Results (select deformed shape )

15
3.2 PROCEDURE FOR PERFORMING NON LINEAR ANALYSIS ON A

CANTILEVER BEAM (for Uniform Load):

1. Go to Preferences->select structural

2. Then Pre-processor->Element Type ->Add/Edit->Select Solid tet 10 node 187 from the list

of the elements

3. Material Properties ->Material Models -> select Structural-> linear ->elastic->isotropic->

values of EX and PRXY were given(71.7e09, 0.3 respectively ).

4. Modeling ->Create -> Areas -> rectangular -> By dimensions

5. Modeling->Operate->extrude ->Areas->along Normal (required dimension was fed )

6. Meshing ->Mesh Tool (smart size and the shape of the mesh were chosen and then the

structure was meshed)

7. Go to Solution ->analysis Type -> Soln Control->and the following values were fed as

shown in fig 3.1.

8. Define Loads ->Structural-> Displacement ->On areas (the face which are to be fixed are

selected and the displacement value is set to 0)

9. Define loads ->Structural->Pressure->On Areas (where the required surface is selected).

10. Solve ->Current LS

In order to obtain the deformed shape

Go to General Postproc ->Plot Results (select deformed shape)

16
3.3 PROCEDURE FOR PERFORMING NON LINEAR ANALYSIS ON A

CIRCULAR STIFFENED PLATE:

A. GEOMETRIC MODELLING

B. NON LINEAR ANALYSIS ON CIRCULAR STIFFENED PLATES

3.3.1 GEOMETRIC MODELLING:

1. Go to Preferences->select structural

2. Then Pre-processor->Element Type ->Add/Edit->Select Solid tet 10 node 187

3. Material Properties ->Material Models -> select Structural-> linear ->elastic->isotropic->

values of EX and PRXY were given (71.7e09, 0.3 respectively).

4. Modeling ->Create -> Areas-> Circle-> Annulus.

The center, inner and outer radius are entered in the pop up window.

Fig 3.3 Selection of center and inner and outer radii

5. Modeling->Operate->extrude ->Areas->along Normal (required dimension is fed)

6. Then the stiffeners are added.

17
3.3.2 NON LINEAR ANALYSIS ON STIFFENED PLATES:

6. Meshing ->Mesh Tool (smart size nd the shape of the mesh were chosen and then the

element was meshed)

7. Go to Solution ->analysis Type -> Soln Control->nd the following values were fed as

Figure 3.4 Values that are fed in Soln Control

8. Define Loads ->Structural-> Displacement -> On areas (the face which are to be fixed are

selected and the displacement value is set to 0)

9. Define loads ->Structural->Pressure ->On Areas (where the required area is selected and

the pressure value given).

10. Solve ->Current LS

11. General Postproc ->Plot Results (select deformed shape)

18
Chapter 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

19
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

4.1 VALIDATION :

Validation of the present method has been carried out by comparing the results available in

literature. The results of the static analysis including the nonlinear results are validated with

that of Manoranjan barik.

A clamped circular plate of diameter 25.4 mm. (1.0in.) is subjected to a uniform pressure of

6.8947 kPa (1.0psi). Initially the circular plate is unstiffened and then a stiffener along the

diameter is added.

The central deflections of the circular plate and the stiffened circular plate are found to be

1.491*10-4 and 1.2039*10-4 respectively whereas those of Manoranjan Barik being

1.549*10-4 and 1.1496*10-4 respectively.

It is observed that the present results are in good agreement with the already established

results.

Figure 4.1 Diagram of the stiffened plate

20
4.2 BEHAVIOUR OF ANNULAR PLATES W.R.T. TO CHANGE IN

INTERNAL DIAMETER:

The internal radius of the annular plate is varied keeping the outer radius constant and their

respective results were studied.

Figure 4.2 Load vs deflection for 20mm plate

Figure 4.3 Load vs deflection for 15 mm plate

21
 Figure 4.4 Load vs deflection for 10 mm plate

(a)LOAD VS MAXIMUM DEFLECTION:

From the above graphs it can be stated that the maximum deflection in the plate increases as

the inner radius of the annular plate decreases. It is minimum when the inner radius is 20mm.

(b) DEFLECTION PROFILE:

Figure 4.5 Deflection profile of the circular plate

22
 Figure 4.6 Deflection profile of the annular plate

4.3 BEHAVIOUR OF CIRCULAR STIFFENED PLATES :

Stiffeners were added to the plates already analyzed and loads were applied to find out the

deflections. First one stiffener was added along a diameter and then another stiffener was

added perpendicular to the first stiffener and the analysis done.

Figure 4.7 Geometry of annular plate with 0ne stiffener

23
 Figure 4.8 Geometry of annular plate with two stiffeners

Following graphs were plotted.

Figure 4.9 Load vs. deflection of annular plates of thickness 20mm with stiffeners

24
Figure 4.10 Load Vs. deflection of annular plates with thickness 10mm with stiffeners

Figure 4.11 Deflection profile of plate with one stiffener

25
Figure 4.12 Deflection profile of plate with two stiffeners

26
Chapter 5

CONCLUSION

27
Conclusion :

1. The Results exhibit hardening type nonlinearity. Stiffness of the system increases with
deflection. It shows the effect of stretching of mid-plane of the plate (geometric nonlinearity).

2. From the discussions regarding the thickness of plates, it can be safely said that the
stiffness of the plates increases as the thickness increases.

3. Maximum deflection in the plate increases as the inner radius of the annular plate
decreases.

4. Addition of stiffeners to the plates increased their load bearing capacity more so in case
addition of two stiffeners than in the case of addition of one stiffener.

28
Chapter 6

REFERENCES

29
References:

[1].G.J. Tuvey, M. Salehi, Circular Plate with one diametral stiffener- an elastic large

deflection analysis, Computers & Structures Vol. 63, No. 4, pp. 775-783, 1997

[2]. Mazin Victor Yousif, Nazar Kais M. Naief, Yahya M. Hamad, Optimum height of plate

stiffener under pressure effect, The 1st Regional Conference of Eng. Sci. NUCEJ Spatial

ISSUE vol.11, No.3, 2008 pp 459-468

[3].Rao, D.V. Sheikh, A.H. and Mukhopadhyay, A finite element large displacement analysis

of stiffened plates. Computers & Structures,47 (6),1993,987-993.

[4]. Manoranjan Barik, Finite element static, dynamic and stability analysis of arbitrary

stiffened plates, Ph.D thesis.

[5]. Nonlinear finite element method models for ultimate strength analysis of steel stiffened-

plate structures under combined biaxial compression and lateral pressure actions ,Thin walled

structures, 47, 2009 ,1008-1017

[6]. https://www.sharcnet.ca/

[7]. Tarsicio Belendez , Cristian Neipp and Augusto Belendez , Large and small deflections

of a cantilever beam, European Journal of Physics. Vol. 23, No. 3 (May 2002)

30