Application of Boundary Integral Method to Continuous Plate Structures

Ship hulls are composed of complex plate structures. Such structures can be analyzed by analytical as well as numerical methods. Here it is demonstrated that boundary integrals can be used to analyze such structures by a seminumerical method. Boundary integrals have been used for analyzing single plate bending problems, and only recently have attempts been made to extend their use to complex plate structures. In this paper the Direct Boundary Integral Method for bending of thin elastic plates is extended to analysis of the continuous plate structures. The concepts of compatibility and equilibrium conditions along the common boundary have been imposed in conjunction with a boundary element formulation for each panel. Several examples of loading conditions are presented and compared with analytical solutions. The excellent agreement achieved illustrates the effectiveness of the extended formulation.