Panels and shells with variously shaped cutout are often used in both modern and classical aerospace, mechanical and civil engineering structures. The understanding of the effects of cutout on the load bearing capacity and stress concentration of such plates/shells is very important in designing of structures. An analytical investigation is undertaken to study the stress analysis of plates with different central cutouts. Particular emphasis is placed on flat infinite plates subjected to a uniaxial tension load. The results based on analytical solution are compared with the results obtained using finite element methods. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate the accuracy and simplicity of presented analytical solution for stress analysis of plates with central cutout. The varying parameters, such as cutout shape and bluntness, load direction or cutout orientations, which affect the stress distributions and SCF in the perforated plates, are considered. The results presented herein indicated that the stress concentration factor of perforated plates can be significantly changed by using proper cutout shape, bluntness and orientation.

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