Deformable stiffener welded to an elastic plate

An approximate solution to the nonlinear problem of an elastic stiffener welded to an elastic plate is obtained in the form of a finite sum of Chebyshev polynomials. To an exact first-order approximation, the deformed length of the stiffener is proved to be greater than its un-deformed length. Other conclusions show that the longitudinal force decreases when elongation of the stiffener is included, whereas the concentration coefficient, defined in terms of the singular behavior of the interactive force between the stiffener and the plate that occurs at either end, decreases when the elongation is sufficiently large. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.