Tertiary hull loads, strength, and bending[edit]
Tertiary strength and loads are the forces, strength, and bending response of individual sections of hull plate between stiffeners, and the behaviour of individual stiffener sections. Usually the tertiary loading is simpler to calculate: for most sections, there is a simple, maximum hydrostatic load or hydrostatic plus slamming load to calculate. The plate is supported against those loads at its edges by stiffeners and beams. The deflection of the plate (or stiffener), and additional stresses, are simply calculated from those loads and the theory of plates and shells.