A comparative study on the structural integrity of single and double side skin bulk carriers under collision damage

The primary aim of the present study is to investigate the collision resistance and residual strength of single side skin (SSS) and double side skin (DSS) bulk carriers subject to collision damage. The impact dynamics analyses were conducted using ANSYS LS-DYNA for the evaluation resistance forces, energy absorption and penetration depth for various collision scenarios. The struck vessels of Capsize SSS and DSS designs were assumed to be entirely standstill and the striking vessels of an Aframax-type oil tanker with different bulbous bow shapes were modeled as rigid bodies. The findings were compared, where possible, with existing analytical tools. Residual strength calculations on SSS and DSS vessels were computed corresponding to all considered collision damage scenarios. Traditional Smith's method was applied with the average stress — average strain relationships of elements based on derived semi - analytically. The effect of corrosion was also evaluated by Joint Bulker Project (JBP) Rules on the influence of plate and stiffener thickness. The safety of the vessels was determined as a ratio of the ultimate hull girder strength to bending moment in damaged condition. Finally, results and insights derived from the present work are summarized.     

Importance of user perception in evaluating level of service for bus transit for a developing country like India: a review

Assessment of service quality in bus transit planning has received due attention in recent years from the viewpoint of optimal service allocation. The concept of level of service (LOS) has emerged as an effective tool to measure quality of services. Service-quality assessment provides operators with knowledge on users' satisfaction with existing services and their expected LOSs. The importance of user perception towards assessment of LOS has been acknowledged by researchers. While LOS standards for public transportation have been established by the Transportation Research Board in the USA, researchers have questioned the applicability of these standards in the context of different geographic regions. Since the service delivery environment differs between developed and developing nations, the user perception of service quality varies between these economic regions. Substantial research has been carried out in the context of both developed and developing nations, to identify the bus transit service parameters that affect users' perceived service quality; however, little research exists that establishes LOS thresholds for bus transit, based on user perception. This paper reviews the concept of LOS, describes the importance of user perception in assessment of service quality and identifies the need to establish LOS thresholds for bus transit from user perception for developing countries.     

Mathematical modelling of response amplitude operator for roll motion of a floating body: Analysis in frequency domain with numerical validation

This paper investigates mathematical modelling of response amplitude operator （RAO） or transfer function using the frequency-based analysis for uncoupled roll motion of a floating body under the influence of small amplitude regular waves. The hydrodynamic coefficients are computed using strip theory formulation by integrating over the length of the floating body. Considering sinusoidal wave with frequency （ω ） varying between 0.3 rad/s and 1.2 rad/s acts on beam to the floating body for zero forward speed, analytical expressions of RAO in frequency domain is obtained. Using the normalization procedure and frequency based analysis, group based classifications are obtained and accordingly governing equations are formulated for each case. After applying the fourth order Runge-Kutta method numerical solutions are obtained and relative importance of the hydrodynamic coefficients is analyzed. To illustrate the roll amplitude effects numerical experiments have been carried out for a Panamax container ship under the action of sinusoidal wave with a fixed wave height. The effect of viscous damping on RAO is evaluated and the model is validated using convergence, consistency and stability analysis. This modelling approach could be useful to model floating body dynamics for higher degrees of freedom and to validate the result.