AN EXPERIMENT AL INVESTIGATION OF THE BEHAVIOUR OF STIFFENED PLATES IN AXIAL COMPRESSION

of the Institute of Aerophysics for providing the opportunity of carrying out this investigation. The guidance of his supervisor Prof. E. D. Poppleton is also gratefully acknowledged. This work was made possible through the nnancial assistance of the Defence Research Board of Canada. SUMMARY An experimental study has been made of the buckling and post- buckling behaviour of a number of flat and curved panels. The effect of the ratio of plate-to- stringer stiffness on the initial buckling stress was determined and the theory of Seide and Stein was found to predict the behaviour of flat panels accurately. The ratio of the ultimate strength of a curved stiffened plate to that of a corresponding flat panel was found to increase with the ratio of panel width to radius of curvature. This increase was found for all values of stiffener-to-plate stiffness ratios. Further, as this stiffness ratio wa