The high strength to weight ratio and high stiffness to weight ratio of stiffened plates find wide application in aircraft structures, ship structures, offshore oil platforms and lock gates. The strength and stability of stiffened plates is highly influenced by openings and initial imperfections. The main objective is to study the behaviour of stiffened steel plates with openings up to collapse and to trace the post-peak behaviour under axial and out-of-plane loads. Four stiffened steel plates with a square opening were fabricated for testing. Angle sections were used as stiffeners. Imperfections in the plate, stiffener and overall imperfection of the whole panel were measured. All fabricated panels were tested to failure. A finite element (FE) model was developed for the analysis of stiffened plates with initial imperfections and validated with the test results. Parametric studies were conducted using the developed FE model, and interaction curves and equations were developed for the design of stiffened plates with initial imperfections and openings. The interactive effect for stiffened panels with a square opening was found to be linear, with proportional reduction of the ultimate axial load carrying capacity due to the constant out-of-plane load. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.