Extensive study on the design loads used for strength assessment of tanker and bulk carrier structures

ClassNK has undertaken wide-ranging basic research covering many aspects related to the safety of ship structures, including design loads, structural analysis, strength assessment of buckling, collapse, and fatigue, and rational corrosion margins to develop new design standards which have transparency and consistency. Among the wide-ranging basic research, this article summarizes the results of extensive work on the design loads used for strength assessments of tanker and bulk carrier structures. The main aim of the research was to develop practical estimation methods of design loads with rational technical backgrounds relating to the actual loads acting on the primary structural members of tankers and bulk carriers. During this study, we proposed the following methodology. Design sea states that closely resemble the actual sea states which are considered to be the most severe for hull structures. Find practical estimation methods for the design sea states by parametric studies using the results of series calculations on representative tankers and bulk carriers. Find practical estimation methods for design regular waves which will result in the same level of stresses as those induced in irregular waves under the design sea states. We also briefly introduced some practical estimation methods for the design loads, such as ship motions, accelerations, hull-girder bending moments, and hydrodynamic pressures that are induced under design regular waves. The findings in this study have been summarized and implemented in the new design standards for tanker and bulk carrier structures.Updated from the Japanese original which won the 2003 SNAJ prize (J Soc Nav Archit Jpn 2002; 191:195–207; 2002; 191:208–220; and 2002; 192:723–733)     

Fatigue assessment by spectral approach for the ISSC comparative study of the hatch cover bearing pad

Fatigue analyses were carried out using a spectral approach in the ISSC comparative study of the hatch cover-bearing pad (Marine Struct 15 (2001) 1; 14th International Ship & Offshore Structures Congress, Nagasaki, Japan, 2000). The predicted fatigue life was 5.3 years for the structural detail. For the same detail, the fatigue life predictions of the classification societies were between 2 and 21 years (Marine Struct 15 (2001) 1; 14th International Ship & Offshore Structures Congress, Nagasaki, Japan, 2000). In addition, several parameter variations were applied in the present study using various sea areas, speeds and three different models for the fatigue strength. The predicted fatigue lives varied from 3 to 6 years. In the results of the spectral analyses, clear differences in fatigue lives were observed between moderate and severe sea areas. This also indicates that defining the environmental conditions of the ship, i.e., sea areas and occurrence probabilities of different sea states, is important in addition to the operational profile of the ship. The predicted fatigue lives are short for the analysed detail. If the true fatigue life is over 20 years, the study indicates that the fatigue strength or the fatigue loading models underestimate the fatigue life. The methodologies in fatigue analysis include rather significant uncertainties, especially in defining the fatigue loading.     

Practical estimation methods of the design loads for primary structural members of tankers

Various design loads used in the strength evaluation of ship structures have been introduced currently by classification societies. As most of these design loads have been determined as the standard loads for the sake of convenience, the relationships between the design loads and the sea states actually encountered by ships seem to be weak. Accordingly, it may be difficult to refer and utilize them as the fundamental design concepts for ship designers or the operational guidelines for ship operators. To overcome these difficulties, the authors have developed practical estimation methods of the design loads having transparent and consistent backgrounds to the actual loads acting on primary structural members of tankers. In this paper, the design sea states that closely resemble the actual sea states which are considered as the most severe for hull structures are firstly proposed. Secondly, the practical estimation methods of the design sea states are proposed by parametric studies using the results of series calculation of representative tankers. Thirdly, the practical estimation methods of design regular waves resulting in the same level of stresses with that induced in irregular waves under the design sea states are proposed. Finally, the practical estimation methods of the design loads such as ship motions, accelerations, hull girder bending moments and hydrodynamic pressures that are induced under design regular waves are proposed.     

A unified seakeeping and maneuvering analysis of ships in regular waves

The behavior of a ship in regular waves during maneuvering was studied by using a two-time scale model. The maneuvering analysis was based on Söding’s (Schiffstechnik 1982; 29:3–29) nonlinear slender-body theory generalized to account for heel. Forces and moments due to rudder, propeller, and viscous cross-flow follow from the state-of-the-art procedures. The developed unified theory of seakeeping and maneuvering was verified and validated for calm water by comparing it with experimental and calculated zigzag and circle maneuvers. Linear wave-induced motions and loads were determined by generalizing the Salvesen-Tuck-Faltinsen (Trans SNAME 1970; 78:250–287) strip theory. The mean second-order wave loads in incident regular deep water waves in oblique sea conditions were estimated by the potential flow theories of Faltinsen et al. (Proc 13th Symp Naval Hydrody 1980), Salvesen (Proc Intl Symp Dynam Mar Vehicl Struct Wave 1974), and Loukakis and Sclavounos (J Ship Res 1978; 22:1–19). The considered theories cover the whole range of important wavelengths. Comparisons between the different mean second-order wave load theories and available experimental data were carried out for different ship hull forms when the ship was advancing forward on a straight course. The mentioned methods have been incorporated into the maneuvering model. Their applicability from the perspective of the maneuvering ability of the selected types of ships was investigated in given wave environments. The wave conditions are valid for realistic maneuvering cases in open coastal areas. It was demonstrated that the incident waves may have an important influence on the maneuvering behavior of a ship. The added resistance, mean second-order transverse force, and yaw moment also play important roles.     

Structural design considerations for ships operating in arctic regions北大核心CSCD

冰脊和冰山与极地船体发生碰撞将影响船体结构安全,并决定船体结构设计载荷。船体结构设计应遵循基于风险的设计原则,通常涉及以下极限状态设计准则:1)服务极限状态(SLS);2)最终极限状态(ULS);3)疲劳极限状态(FLS);4)事故极限状态(ALS)。最终极限状态和事故极限状态对应于发生概率极低的船与冰脊作用以及冰山撞击事件,旨在确保船体结构不会完全损毁。然而,对于较低概率水平的冰载荷分析,需进行较大数据量的工况分析,计算耗时无法承受。为此,引入环境等值轮廓方法,来大幅减少冰载荷分析所需工况数量,并给出设计工况最有可能的冰体参数组合方式。结合最终极限状态和事故极限状态,举例说明这一方法的运用方式。环境等值轮廓方法可为现有极地船舶船体结构设计方法提供有效补充。     

Vertical and horizontal bending moments on the hydroelastic response of a large-scale segmented model in a seaway

Wave-induced vertical bending moment (VBM) and horizontal bending moment (HBM) on a large-scale segmented model with a box-type backbone beam in short-crested irregular seas are systematically analyzed using sea trial measurement data. New insights into the relationship between nonlinear VBM and HBM of the ship sailing in short-crested sea waves are explored and presented. The results indicate that the HBM significantly contributes to the total sectional loads when the ship is sailing in a seaway and the HBM has a strong correlation with VBM in both magnitude and tendency. Therefore, design loads of HBM and the corresponding lateral structural strength issues should also be concerned in addition to VBM at the ship design phase.     

Structural design of process decks for floating production, storage and offloading units

This work analyzes the influence of ship motion and deformation on the structural design of decks to support production plants in floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSOs). These decks are space frames with lengths ranging from 30 to 100 mr, with a variable number of rigid supports linked to the ship hull. The deck and ship hull are modeled together for naval and structural analysis. A global, coupled analysis is performed considering the deck and ship structures; sea loads are evaluated by means of probabilistic methods.     

The influence of route choice and operating conditions on fuel consumption and CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emission of ships

The influence of various parameters, such as ship initial speed (full ahead and lower engine loads), loading condition, heading angle and weather conditions on ship fuel consumption and CO₂ emission is presented. A reliable methodology for estimating the attainable ship speed, fuel consumption and CO₂ emission in different sea states is described. The speed loss is calculated by taking into account the engine and propeller performance in actual seas as well as the mass inertia of the ship. The attainable ship speed is obtained as time series. Correlation of speed loss with sea states allows predictions of propulsive performance in actual seas. If the computation is used for weather routing purposes, values for various ship initial speed, loading conditions and heading angles for each realistic sea‐state must be provided. The voluntary speed loss is taken into account. The influence of the ship speed loss on various parameters such as fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions is presented. To illustrate the presented concept, the ship speed and CO₂ emissions in various routes of the Atlantic Ocean are calculated using representative environmental design data for the track of the routes where the ship will sail.     

基于规范载荷的舰船设计海况等级确定方法

针对军用规范载荷难以给出舰船设计海况等级的问题,本文通过三维时域非线性水弹性理论分析了舰船在典型航速、不同海况下的波浪载荷极值与规范载荷之间的对应关系,进而提出了一种明确舰船设计海况等级的方法。以某型舰船为例,基于该方法确定了该型舰船的设计海况等级。研究成果表明：该方法可有效明确舰船规范载荷对应下的设计海况等级,在一定程度上为舰船的安全使用提供参考。     

不同敏感性参数下船舶-碎冰碰撞的船体结构响应

基于我国第七次北极科学考察获得的夏季北极海冰空间分布情况,模拟真实碎冰分布,采用LS-DYNA软件中的流固耦合方法,研究在船舶航速、碎冰尺度、碎冰厚度及碎冰密集度等因素影响下船舶-碎冰碰撞的船体结构响应。结合试验数据得到船体结构的应力、吸能和碰撞力。结果表明：船舶-碎冰的主要碰撞区域为艏部及舷侧的水线附近;在船舶航行于碎冰域时,船体结构的应力、吸能和碰撞力的峰值随碎冰域的船舶航速、碎冰尺度、碎冰厚度及碎冰密集度的增加而增加,但分布情况不同。研究结果为船舶在极地冰区航行提供一定的安全性参考。     

舰船在北极海区有关航法及定位问题探究

针对北极海区航行条件的特点,提出了几种适用于北极海区航行的海图选用方法;并就舰船在北极海区航行时的航迹推算和天文定位解算等问题给出了具体的解算方法。     

航行船舶在波浪中响应长期监测技术

船舶在运营中遭遇恶劣海况时结构可能会发生破坏,从而对船舶在海上航行的安全性产生严重影响.对航行船舶结构安全性的实时监测与评估是船舶设计研究人员非常关注的问题,它对船体结构的研究、设计和标准制定以及航行操作都有重要的意义.对研发成功的一套航行船舶在波浪中响应的长期监测系统(LOTEMS)及其在实船航行中的长期应用情况进行介绍和分析.该系统能对船体结构的总纵强度和局部强度、船舶6个自由度的运动模态以及船舶的加速度进行实时的跟踪测量和分析,可为船舶结构安全状态提供必要的警示信息,以便为船舶操作人员航行决策提供辅助依据.     

船舶碰撞载荷对移动海上基地连接器载荷的影响

移动海上基地属于超大型浮式结构物,在营运过程中会遇到飞机坠落,船舶碰撞等事故情况。事故载荷不仅会对超大型浮式结构物的局部结构产生破坏作用,而且会对超大型浮式结构物的薄弱环节——连接器产生附加载荷。以船舶碰撞为例,采用简化的RMFC模型,然后通过SESAM软件计算水动力系数,将其代入多刚体运动微分方程后用数值方法求解,研究特殊载荷对连接器载荷的影响。考虑不同连接器刚度以及不同撞击部位工况,估算碰撞引起的连接器载荷的数量级,并与波浪载荷引起的连接器载荷进行了比较。这为今后移动海上基地连接器设计提供了指导和依据。     

水面舰船迎浪航行时大幅运动预报的切片算法

将预报船舶运动和波浪载荷的切片理论加以扩展，应用于有限深水中船舶迎浪航行时大幅纵向运动和波浪载荷的时域求解。预报结果体现出考虑了湿表面及化后引起的船舶运动和受力的非线性性质。本计算方法简便、实用，适用于船舶纵向大幅运动预报。     

用于轴系校中的船体变形计算研究

船体变形是影响船舶推进轴系校中质量的一个非常重要的动态因素.在综合考虑引起船体变形的三种主要因素的基础上,以76000t成品油轮为例,计算了极限装载状态下的重力分布和极限海况时的波浪载荷.通过对整船有限元模型合理施加重力、浮力及环境温度载荷,并模拟船舶水弹性约束,得到船体二层底的局部变形,为在轴系校中计算中计入船体变形的影响奠定了基础.     

Economic feasibility of an NSR/SCR-combined container service on the Asia-Europe lane: a new approach dynamically considering sea ice extent

The trend towards global warming and the rapid decline in the extent of summer Arctic sea ice over recent years has increased the feasibility of international Arctic shipping. In this study we propose a seasonal NSR (North Sea Route)/SCR (Suez Canal Route)-combined shipping service linking Shanghai and Rotterdam, using the Northern Sea Route during the economical navigable window but using the traditional Suez Canal Route at other times. Different from the previous literatures, this paper dynamically considers the sea ice extent in the model, which is more reasonable for the assessment of Arctic container shipping, because fuel consumption is highly related to ship speed, while ship speed is determined by the relative distances of ice-covered and ice-free route stages. A new approach is developed to predict the time points at which the ship enters and exits the ice-covered stage, given that both the ship position and the extent of sea ice are constantly changing. The results show that the NSR/SCR-combined Arctic container service can be more economical than the SCR, given lower NSR tariffs.     

Long-term correlation structure of wave loads using simulation

This paper proposes a new method for combining the lifetime wave-induced sectional forces and moments that are acting on the ship structure. The method is based on load simulation and can be used to determine the exceedance probabilities of any linear and nonlinear long-term load combination. It can also be used to determine the long-term correlation structure between these loads in the form of the long-term correlation coefficients. They are essential part of the load combination procedures in design and strength evaluations as well as in the fatigue and reliability analysis of ship structures.The simulation method treats the non-stationary wave elevations during the ship’s entire life (long-term) as a sequence of different stationary Gaussian stochastic processes. It uses the rejection sampling technique for the sea state generation, depending on the ship’s current position and the season. Ship’s operational profile is then determined conditional on the current sea state and the ship’s position along its route. The sampling technique significantly reduces the number of sea state-operational profile combinations required for achieving the convergence of the long-term statistical properties of the loads. This technique can even be used in combination with the existing long-term methods in order to reduce the number of required weightings of the short-term CDFs. The simulation method does, however, rely on the assumption that the ship is a linear system, but no assumptions are needed regarding the short-term CDF of the load peaks.The load time series are simulated from the load spectra in each sea state, taking into account the effects of loading condition, heading, speed, seasonality, voluntary as well as involuntary speed reduction in severe sea states and the short-crested nature of the ocean waves. During the simulation procedure, special care has been given to maintaining the correct phase relation between all the loads. Therefore, time series of various load combinations, including the nonlinear ones, can be obtained and their correlation structure examined. The simulation time can be significantly reduced (to the order of minutes rather than hours and days) by introducing the seasonal variations of the ocean waves into a single voyage simulation. The estimate of the long-term correlation coefficient, obtained by simulating only a single voyage with the correct representation of seasonality, approaches the true correlation coefficient in probability. This method can be applied to any ship and any route, or multiple routes as long as the percentage of the ship’s total lifetime spent in each of them is known.A study has been conducted to investigate the effects of ship type, route and the longitudinal position of the loads on the values of the correlation coefficients between six different sectional loads; vertical, horizontal and twisting moments, as well as shear, horizontal and axial forces. Three ocean-going ship types have been considered; bulk carrier, containership and tanker, all navigating on one of the three busy ship routes; North America-Europe, Asia-North America and Asia-Europe. Finally, the correlation coefficient estimates have been calculated for five different positions along the ship’s length to investigate the longitudinal variation of the correlation coefficient.     

Structural loads induced in a containership by abnormal wave conditions

An analysis is presented of the vertical bending moments induced in a containership by a set of abnormal waves measured at different locations and on different occasions. A systematic investigation was carried out by using a large set of wave traces that included abnormal waves. In this way it was possible to assess the influence of the height, length, and shape of the abnormal waves on the wave-induced structural loads. The probability distributions of the ship responses to the sea states that included the abnormal waves were also calculated and were compared to the responses induced by the abnormal waves and to fitted distributions. Finally, the structural loads induced by the abnormal waves were compared with rule values and with long-term predictions.     

试样极限塑性和船舶触礁模型试验校准计算

船舶碰撞与搁浅时的结构损伤是一个复杂的动态非线性过程。国际船舶与离岸结构会议碰撞与搁浅委员会（ISSC－V.3)组织其成员进行了两项专题研究：（1）材料极限塑性极限应变试验数据用于有限元模型计算时的尺度修正系数；（2）各种计算方法用于船舶搁浅（触礁）计算的准确性。介绍了作者承担上述两项研究的成果，给出了极限塑性极限应变的尺度修正系数的计算方法和结果，论证了非线性有限元显式积分方法及MSC／Dytran软件用于搁浅计算的准确性。     

一种有效近似建模方法及船舶耐波性代理模型构建

船舶耐波性能预报计算过程复杂,会受到诸多设计变量的影响;且采用高精度商业软件如CFD预报船舶性能的计算代价非常高。文章采用拉丁超立方方法进行了设计空间抽样。定义了一个新的综合衡准指标来表达船舶耐波性能,即短期和长期作用下船舶非工作时间百分数。考虑了船舶耐波性能中的五个运动方向：横摇、纵摇、转艏、横荡和升沉。为提高船舶耐波性能计算效率,一种有效的近似建模方法—单参数Lagrangian 支持向量回归算法被用于训练并构建代理模型以预报船舶耐波性能,且该算法是由作者在过去的研究工作中首次提出。以海洋平台支援船（OSV）为例,采用SPL-SVR算法预报船舶耐波性能,并与基于NAPA计算仿真结果、人工神经网络和经典支持向量回归算法进行对比。该文考虑OSV的两种速度,建立了海洋平台支援船短期作用下非工作时间百分数的耐波性能响应面模型,结果显示采用SPL-SVR算法建立的船舶耐波性能响应面模型比较适合船型初步设计的工程实际应用,并具有较高的计算效率。