An analytical method to assess the structural responses of ship side structures by raked bow under oblique collision scenarios

With the development of the shipping industry, the number of ships at sea has increased significantly. According to the statistical data, oblique ship collisions are much more frequently happened than that of head-on ship collisions. However, there are less researches on oblique ship collisions than those of head-on ship collisions. The responses of hull structure during oblique collision scenarios are different from those in head-on collision scenarios, and might have wider structural damages, which demonstrate the significance of research on oblique collision scenarios and structural damage. In this paper, the oblique collision scenarios are firstly investigated through numerical simulations. Finite element software LS_DYNA is used for the numerical simulations. Six typical oblique collision scenarios are defined, on purpose of finding the main deformation characteristics of the struck ship. Two basic assumptions were made accordingly. Then, a simplified analytical method is proposed to predict the structural response of ship side structures by raked bow under oblique collision scenarios. The new analytical method includes the deformation mechanism of the side plating, the web girder and the transverse frame. The resistance and energy dissipation of these components are used in an integrated way to evaluate the overall crashworthiness of the side structure of the struck ship. The numerical simulation results match well with the results of analytical calculations, which validates the accuracy of the proposed analytical method. The proposed analytical method can provide an effective way to evaluate the structural crashworthiness of ship side structures in oblique collision scenarios during the structural design stage.