Reliability Quantification of High-Speed Naval Vessels Based on SHM Data

Abstract

Identification of the structural responses of high-speed naval vessels under normal sea operation is subjected to uncertainties associated with the loading conditions, material properties, cross-sectional dimensions and damage propagation, among others. Probabilistic analyses provide appropriate performance indicators, such as the reliability index, which can simultaneously consider these uncertainties in the prediction of the service life of ships based on the required reliability levels. In this context, structural health monitoring (SHM) can aid in determining the seaway loading conditions and quantifying the structural responses under different operational conditions. As a result, uncertainties associated with the performance prediction can be quantified and some of them (i.e., epistemic uncertainties) can be reduced. In this paper, reliability assessment, based on SHM data, of high-speed naval vessels is performed. Information from SHM is used to estimate the actual structural response associated with the sea states, ship speeds, and wave headings encountered by the vessel. Recorded structural responses are used to establish the time-variant performance profile of the studied cross-sections. This profile can be used to predict the remaining service life and to plan for the appropriate threshold-based inspections and repair actions. The presented approach is applied to a high speed naval vessel.