Full-scale collapse testing of a steel stiffened plate structure under cyclic axial-compressive loading

Plate panels of ships and floating offshore structures are likely subjected to cyclic loads arising from waves at sea. Depending on sea states, e.g., whipping in harsh sea states, the maximum amplitude of the cyclic loads may reach over 70% of ultimate loads. Of concerns is how the cyclic loads will affect the ultimate strength compared to a case of monotonically increasing loads. The aim of this paper is to experimentally investigate the ultimate strength characteristics of a steel stiffened plate structure under cyclic axial-compressive loading. A full-scale collapse testing in association with bottom structures of an as-built 1,900 TEU containership was conducted. It is concluded that the effects of cyclic loading on the ultimate compressive strength of steel stiffened plate structures are small as far as fatigue damages are not suffered due to the small number of load cycles and/or local structural members do not reach the ultimate strength during cyclic axial-compressive loading. Details of the test database are documented, which will be useful to validate computational models for the ultimate strength analysis.