Longitudinal strength of ships with accidental damages

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation of the longitudinal strength of ships with damages due to grounding or collision accidents. Analytical equations are derived for the residual hull girder strength and verified with direct calculations of sample commercial ships for a broad spectrum of accidents. Hull girder ultimate strengths of these sample vessels under sagging and hogging conditions are also calculated, based on which correlation equations are proposed. To evaluate a grounded ship, using the section modulus to the deck would be optimistic, while using the section modulus to the bottom would be conservative. On the contrary, to evaluate a collided ship, using the section modulus to the deck would be conservative, while using the section modulus to the bottom would be optimistic. The derived analytical formulae are then applied to a fleet of 67 commercial ships, including 21 double hull tankers, 18 bulk carriers, 22 single hull tankers and six container carriers. The mean values, standard deviations and coefficients of variation for the coefficients in these new analytical formulae are obtained. The ship length exhibits little influence on these coefficients because they are close to the mean values although ship length spans from 150 to 400 m. The ship type shows some influence on the residual strength. Uniform equations are proposed for commercial ships which do not depend on a ship's principal dimensions. These formulae provide very handy tools for predicting the residual strength in seconds, without performing step-by-step detailed calculations, an obvious advantage in cases of emergency or salvage operation.