Structural Strength Assessment of Stiffened Panels Under Torsional Loads Through Finite Element Modeling with GUI

Stiffened panels are essential structural elements that play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of engineering structures, particularly when subjected to torsional loading. Ensuring their adequate strength is therefore a fundamental requirement in design and assessment. Conventional approaches to strength evaluation using the finite element method (FEM) often face challenges due to the complexity of modeling stiffened geometries and the time-consuming setup required, which can reduce efficiency and limit accessibility for practical applications. To overcome these limitations, this study introduces the development of a graphical user interface (GUI) specifically designed to facilitate FEM-based strength analysis of stiffened panels under torsional loads. The GUI, implemented in Python, automates essential modeling steps, streamlines the input process, and enhances user interaction through an intuitive interface, thereby making torsional strength analysis more efficient and user-friendly. Numerical simulations were carried out on nine panel configurations, systematically combining three variations of plate thickness with three variations of longitudinal stiffener geometry. The results demonstrate that plate thickness has a direct influence on torsional resistance, with thicker plates exhibiting significantly higher strength, while stiffener design was also found to strongly affect performance: the 80 x 80 x 8 stiffener provided the greatest resistance against general torsional loading, whereas the 100 x 65 x 9 stiffener displayed superior behavior under pure torque conditions. These findings are consistent with theoretical predictions, confirming the reliability of the developed approach, and overall, the proposed GUI proves to be an effective tool in supporting FEM-based strength assessment of stiffened panels, offering both accuracy and efficiency while highlighting the potential of integrating computational modeling with user-oriented interfaces to broaden the applicability of FEM in structural engineering practice, particularly in analyzing complex torsional behaviors of stiffened panel systems.