Abstract
This paper presents the evaluation of the approximate equivalent stiffness for structural optimization of double-skin hollow plates. For this purpose, the equivalent stiffness of the plate is given first in the second-order polynomial form with respect to design parameters by using the Response Surface Method. Finite element analysis for bending problem is formulated by using the ACM rectangular element, and then FEA program is developed by incorporating the equivalent stiffness. Finally the numerical results by the present FEA are compared with the ones by a commercial FEA code, and the applicability of the stiffness and the present FEA are studied
