The Usefulness of Response Monitoring for Estimation of Bow

Abstract

During the 1970's, the Maritime Administration, as part of its Exploratory Research Program, supported the development of shipboard instrumentation systems for the sensing of ship motions and structural responses and the prediction of response changes to be expected when a ship's course or speed is altered. Two systems were installed, one on the SS LASH Italia operating in the Atlantic/Mediterranean service and the other on the USNS Furman operating in trans-Pacific service. These systems were operated for several years during which time significant data were obtained on midship bending, bow accelerations, bow side frame stresses and rolling. Filtering allowed identification of slamming and green water events. SNAME Panel HS-2 (Impact Loads and Responses), long in need of full-scale data on heavy-weather transient loadings of the hull, wished to determine whether these data, collected for other purposes, could be useful for predicting the frequency and magnitude of loads on the bow flare structure due to slamming and green water events. This paper presents the results of the investigation that was carried out and suggests some implications regarding the establishment of criteria for bow structure design in regard to loadings of this type.