Ultimate strength of steel brackets in ship structures

Steel brackets are customarily used to prevent sideways deformation or lateral-torsional buckling in the supporting components of structures such as ships and offshore platforms. The aims of this study are to undertake nonlinear finite element analysis to examine the ultimate-strength characteristics of steel brackets, and to develop a simple design formula to predict the ultimate strength of a steel bracket. The structural features of steel brackets in real ship structures are investigated. Finite element modelling techniques are developed to compute the ultimate-strength behaviour of steel brackets with different design variables, such as material type and breadth to height ratio. The findings of the research and the above-mentioned design formula have the potential to enhance the structural design and safety assessment of steel brackets in ship structures. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.