Development of Higher Order Stiffened Shell Element (HOST9) for the Static Analysis of Stiffened Laminated Plates

A new higher order stiffened shell element (HOST9) is developed comprising of a 9 noded flat shell element and a 3 noded stiffener element for analysis of stiffened laminated plates. The shell element is a lagrangian element. The stiffener is a beam element. The stiffness of the stiffener is computed separately and added to that of the shell element at appropriate locations. As a result, the stiffener can be located arbitrarily in the shell element. Static analysis of stiffened laminated plate is carried out using the newly developed element and is validated with the existing literature. It is seen that the proposed element gives comparable results and can be used for the analysis.