A simplified fluid structure interaction model for the assessment of ship hard grounding

• Published in: Journal of marine science and technology Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 695 - 711
• Main Authors: Kim, Sang Jin, Sohn, Jung Min, Kujala, Pentti, Hirdaris, Spyros
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01.03.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Assessments; Automotive Engineering; Barges; Crashworthiness; Engineering; Engineering Design; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Finite element method; Fluid-structure interaction; Hydrodynamics; Impact strength; Interaction models; Mechanical Engineering; Offshore Engineering; Original Article; Passenger ships; Pitch (inclination); Rolling motion; Structural damage; Added mass; Spring elements; Ship grounding; Restoring forces; Rapid assessment; Fluid structure interactions (FSI)
• ISSN: 0948-4280; 1437-8213
• DOI: 10.1007/s00773-021-00862-6

The structural damage of ships in navigational accidents is influenced by the hydrodynamic properties of surrounding water. Fluid structure interactions (FSI) in way of grounding contact can be idealized by combining commercial FEA tools and specialized hydrodynamic solvers. Despite the efficacy of these simulations, the source codes idealizing FSI are not openly available, computationally expensive and subject to limitations in terms of physical assumptions. This paper presents a unified FSI model for the assessment of ship crashworthiness following ship hard grounding. The method uses spring elements for the idealization of hydrostatic restoring forces in 3 DoF (heave, pitch, roll) and distributes the added masses in 6 DoF on the nodal points in way of contact. Comparison of results against the method of Kim et al. (2021) for the case of a barge and a Ro–Ro passenger ship demonstrate excellent idealization of ship dynamics. It is concluded that the method could be useful for rapid assessment of ship grounding scenarios and associated regulatory developments.