COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON COLLISION RESISTANCE OF SIDE STRUCTURE

In the second phase of ASIS's 7-year research project for improved tan ker safety against collision and grounding supported by Ministry of Tr ansport, a series of numerical simulations of side damage due to colli sion was carried out adopting ASIS's methodology based on the customiz ed explicit FEM simulation system in order to demonstrate its potentia l power in the field of practical application. Assuming the simplified rigid bow of a 150K DWT colliding ship, the energy absorption capacit y of the various side double hull design options for a VLCC, such as i ncreased number of side stringers, double side structure with top side tank in conjunction with hopper tank, and unidirectional girder stiff ening system, was studied. The contribution of each structural compone nt, - side shell, inner hull, transverse web, side stringer, etc. - wa s also investigated in detail. Based on the results of both the numeri cal study and 1/2-scale collision experiments, a new conceptual design of a VLCC side structure was developed. Further study on crushable bo w structure against collision and enhanced design of bottom structure against grounding is now in progress.