The Transient Response of Imperfect Thin-Walled Stiffened Cylindrical Shell Exposed to Side-On Underwater Explosion

Abstract

The thin-walled stiffened cylindrical shells are usually applied in a submarine which takes the external pressure load, or in a boiler, pressure vessel or pipeline system which takes the internal pressure load. The thin-walled stiffened cylindrical shells under hydrodynamic loading are very sensitive to geometrical imperfections. This study is investigating an imperfect thin-walled stiffened cylindrical shell (out-of-round ratio is ψ = 2%) at a depth of 50m below the water level to see how it withstands sideward TNT 782 kg underwater explosion loading so as to understand its structural transient response. ABAQUS finite element software is used as an analysis tool in the current study, meanwhile, during the analysis process, the Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) condition is employed. The structural transient response results of stress and displacement time history of the imperfect thin-walled stiffened cylindrical shell can be used as a reference for the anti-underwater explosion analysis and design of future submersible vehicles, pressure hulls or related structural designs.