  The weighted extended B-spline method [Hoellig (2003)] is applied to bending
and buckling problems of plates with different shapes and stiffener
arrangements. The discrete equations are obtained from the energy contributions
of the different components constituting the system by means of the
Rayleigh-Ritz approach. The pre-buckling or plane stress is computed by means
of Airy's stress function. A boundary data extension algorithm for the weighted
extended B-spline method is derived in order to solve for inhomogeneous
Dirichlet boundary conditions. A series of benchmark tests is performed
touching various aspects influencing the accuracy of the method.
