Author(s)

N.K. Salgado & M.H. Aliabadi

Abstract

This paper presents the application of the Dual Boundary Element Method to the analysis of cracked stiffened panels. Both continuously and discretely attached stiffeners are considered. Displacement compatibility between the sheet and the stiffeners is imposed. The variables of the problem are the usual displacements and tractions at the boundary and the additional inter- action forces acting at the internal attachment region. After the solution of the system of equations, the J-integral technique is used to determine the stress intensity factors. Several examples are presented, including the effect of both broken and unbroken stiffeners on cracked panels. 1 Introduction Stiffened panels (i.e. metal sheets reinforced by stringers), are freq

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