ISSC 2025 Committee III.1 - Compressive Test of a Transversely Stiffened Thin-Plated Structure With Expected Early Nonlinear Response Prior to the Ultimate Capacity: Preliminary Comparison of the Numerical Results

Abstract The maritime industry is increasingly utilizing high-strength steels for lightweight ship design. While enhanced yield strength is advantageous, these steels retain the same Young’s modulus as lower strength steel grades posing challenges in designing slender structures, particularly concerning structural buckling strength. In longitudinal stiffened ship structures, transverse buckling effects, though less significant than longitudinal stresses, can be difficult to predict. Addressing this, the regulatory framework for verifying the buckling of transversely stiffened panels for ships is a topic of substantial international discussion. A research project supported by Fincantieri led the University of Genova to develop a test configuration assessing a slender ship structure’s response to transverse loads. The ISSC 2022-2025 Committee III.1 Ultimate Strength is utilizing this test configuration to conduct a numerical benchmark in three phases, with each phase gradually revealing additional experimental data to the study participants. The benchmark aims to predict the entire end-shortening curve as well as ultimate load to understand load redistribution and quantify energy absorption for dynamic events. This paper presents the preliminary results from Phase 1, focusing on diverse modeling strategies impacting outcomes, including element type, mesh size, and interpretation of initial geometric imperfections among participants in the benchmark study.