Experimental and numerical investigation of the behavior of ship windows subjected to quasi-static pressure loads

High load-carrying capacity of ship windows is important for ship safety. This aspect has recently become significant after several incidents with broken windows in superstructures had occurred. In order to get more insight into the failure behavior and into the interaction between glass windows and surrounding wall structure, experiments and numerical investigations of windows subjected to quasi-static as well as impact loads were performed. In this paper quasi-static ultimate load tests with full-scale test models, each containing a clamped or bonded laminated safety glass window, are described. Finite element modeling of the steel structure, laminated glass, and elastomer bonding or gasket is outlined in detail. Material data are based on small-scale tests of steel and glass specimens, and on published data. Afterwards a method to calculate failure probabilities of glass panes under pressure loads is presented. Failure probabilities for the glass panes in the tests are determined and failure mechanisms are clarified. Finally, hints for designing safe windows and for improving window designs are given.     

计及流体效应的三体船流固耦合自振特性

采用有限元法和边界元法比较分析三体船结构的流固耦合振动问题,探讨深V型、浅吃水侧体的附连水质量对三体船总振动特性的影响。通过对全船三维结构有限元模型进行纯数值计算,获得三体船结构在无限域流场中的湿模态特性。研究发现,计及流体效应后的三体船自振频率比干模态频率明显降低,首部水平振动与尾部扭转振动的耦合振动在高阶模态中较为突出,侧体的附连水质量对三体船垂向和水平振动影响较小。     

A numerical study on the installation configuration design of compliant vertical access riser (CVAR) in deepwater

In oil and gas transportation, the compliant vertical access riser (CVAR) system conducts economic and operational advantages due to its special configuration. In this paper, the static performance of the CVAR is studied by an efficient numerical method. According to the unique configuration of the CVAR, the mathematical model is established based on minimum total potential energy principle. The equilibrium equations are discretized by finite difference method and then solved by Newton-Raphson technique. The accuracy of the numerical method is verified by OrcaFlex software. Detailed parametric analysis is carried out based on practical engineering requirements. The effects of buoyancy section's configuration including buoyancy factor, buoyancy section's length and buoyancy section's location, and external environmental factors including wellhead offset distance, water depth and current velocity on installation shape and mechanical properties of the CVAR are analyzed. The research shows that the presented numerical method has good applicability and flexibility for the early installation configuration design of marine risers which have no touchdown section but only one touchdown point and are equipped with multiple buoyancy blocks subjected to forces of different directions and magnitudes, such as CVARs.     

A numerical study of the effects of bottom and sidewall stiffeners on sloshing behavior considering roll resonant motion

In the present study, aiming to provide practical guidance for the structural design, the effects of the small bottom and sidewall stiffeners on sloshing loads in shallow and intermediate liquid conditions are investigated numerically. The interaction between the highly nonlinear free surface flow and a large number of small stiffeners is modeled based on the Moving Particle Semi-implicit method. 2D models of a rectangular clean tank and tanks with small sidewalls or bottom stiffeners are considered. For filling ratios ranging from 5% to 20%, harmonic angular motions with periods around the analytical sloshing resonant ones are applied. Simulation snapshots and computed pressure time series, pressure variation, wave run-up, maximum fluid velocity, and kinetic energy were provided to clarify the complex interaction between the small baffles and the shallow free surface flow. As a result, except for the tanks with bottom stiffeners in shallow liquid conditions, in which the response under actual resonant frequency should be considered, the response computed using the clean tank excited by its resonant period can be adopted as a conservative estimation for the sloshing loads of actual tanks with small stiffeners.