In situ testing on a new crashworthy device against ship-mitre gate collision

Abstract

The mitre gate has been widely used in ship locks. However, apart from the normal operational loads, the gate is subjected to unexpected incidents, including sudden loads such as collision of the ship. Due to the fact that this kind ofstructure is widely used in a variety of ship locks and holds great promise for future applications, the safety of the structure has received widespread attention. Nowadays, traditional steel fenders are widely used as crashworthy devices in most mitre gates. In order to improve the crashworthiness of the structure, a new crashworthy device made from rubber composite against ship-mitre gate collision is developed instead of traditional steel fenders. In situ testing on this new fender is performed in order to investigate the crashworthiness of the fender. A real ship is used to crash against the gate in the ship lock to create a structural vibration in the test. The dynamic responses of the gate with steel and the new fender are detected so as to compare the effects of the different collision protection systems used in the gate. The test results show that the vibration amplitude changes greatly between gates with steel and the new fender. The structural maximal acceleration and strain responses all decrease when the gate installs the new fender. Based on the in situ vibration test conducted, the installation of a new fender as collision protection device is proven to be an effective method to make the gate in the ship lock safer.