Abstract
For the rational and economic design of the structural elements of ships which is built using welding, the ultimate strength analyses of the plates having initial imperfections, such as welding residual stresses and strains, are needful. The welding deformation usually relied on approximative equations or based on expert's experience. But in this paper, for the thermal elasto-plastic analysis of plates, the finite element analysis was performed, based on initial strain method. In formulating the incremental analysis, unbalanced force terns were included. In the plastic domain during the incremental process, the 2nd order terns stress increment and yield stress increment were considered, so that time increment could be controlled for a more stable solution. The ultimate strength analysis program of the plates having initial imperfections was made. The ultimate strength analysis was carried out based on the results of the welding deformations of this paper. In the ultimate strength analysis the Rayleigh-Ritz method based on the minimum potential theory was used.