Extension of the super-elements method to the analysis of a jacket impacted by a ship

The aim of this paper is to present a simplified analytical method for estimating the crushing resistance of an oblique cylinder impacted by the stem of a striking ship. The collision angle of the vessel is arbitrary, i.e. oblique collisions are also considered in this article. The two extremities of the tube are assumed to be clamped. These developments are intended to be used for evaluating the crashworthiness of an offshore wind turbines jacket. To achieve this goal, closed-form expressions are first derived for the particular situations of a horizontal and a vertical cylinder by applying the upper-bound method. An interpolation formula is then proposed to get the resistance opposed by the tube for any inclination angle. In order to validate these theoretical developments, some comparisons are made with the results of numerical simulations. These latter are performed using the finite elements software LS-DYNA. In almost all cases, the analytical prediction of the resistance is found to be in quite good agreement with the numerical ones. Finally, another comparison is made by simulating an OSV collision with a full jacket. In this case, the theoretical model is found to be insufficient for large impact energies and points out the need of further research.