Ships and Offshore Structures 

About: Ships and Offshore Structures is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Hull & Finite element method. It has an ISSN identifier of 1744-5302. Over the lifetime, 1450 publications have been published receiving 13425 citations. The journal is also known as: SAOS.

Practical techniques for finite element modeling to simulate structural crashworthiness in ship collisions and grounding (Part I: Theory)

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to develop practical techniques useful for FE modeling to simulate structural crashworthiness of ships in collisions or grounding. Approaches to define relevant FE mesh size, material stress'strain relationship, and critical fracture strain and also to deal with the dynamic effects related to dynamic yield strength, dynamic fracture strain, inertia, and frictions are addressed so that the crushing and rupture behavior in collisions and grounding can be analyzed efficiently and accurately in the FE simulations. Benchmark studies on material tensile coupon test specimen and a perforated plate under axial tension are undertaken for the simulation of the fracture behavior. In a separate paper, applications on the existing test structural models, which involve both crushing and fracture behavior, are shown by a comparison with the experimental results and the corresponding FE simulations to confirm the validity of the proposed methods.

Neural networks in ocean engineering

Abstract: The soft computing technique of neural network is being extensively used across all disciplines of ocean engineering, namely, offshore, coastal, and deep-ocean engineering including marine engineering. This paper takes a stock of the research studies reported so far in these areas. It is found that, in general, neural networks provide a better alternative, either substitutive or complementary, to traditional computational schemes of statistical regression, time series analysis, pattern matching, and numerical methods. The relative advantages of the neural network schemes proposed by various investigators are improved accuracy, lesser complexity in modeling and hence smaller computational effort and time, reduced data requirement in some cases, and so on. Neural networks have a very high degree of freedom, and that comes as handy while training it with examples. Exploration of more areas of application, implementation of advanced and hybrid forms of networks together with interpretation of the inf...

Robust Pareto-optimum routing of ships utilising deterministic and ensemble weather forecasts

Abstract: Sophisticated routing of ships is increasingly recognised as an important contribution to safe, reliable and economical ship operation. The more reliable the weather forecasts and the performance simulation of ships in a seaway become, the better they serve to identify the best possible route in terms of criteria like estimated time of arrival (ETA), fuel consumption (FUEL), safety (of ship, crew, passengers and cargo) and comfort. This establishes a multi-objective, non-linear and constrained optimisation problem in which a suitable compromise has to be found between opposing targets. For its solution, a new optimisation approach to select the most advantageous route on the basis of hydrodynamic simulations and sophisticated weather forecasts is posed. Transfer functions are employed to assess the operating behaviour of a ship in waves. Probabilistic ensemble forecasts are applied to account for the stochastic behaviour of weather. A multi-objective genetic algorithm turns out to be a suitable optimisati...

Research needs in aluminum structure

Abstract: The technology required for the design, fabrication, operation, and maintenance of aluminum structures for ships and craft is reviewed to assess the needs for improvements in that technology. The areas reviewed are material property and behavior, structural design, structural details, welding and fabrication, joining aluminum to steel, residual stresses and distortion, fatigue design and analysis, fire protection, vibration, maintenance and repair, mitigating slam loads, and emerging technologies.

Development of new applied models for steel corrosion in marine applications including shipping

Abstract: Models for the prediction of corrosion often give the misleading impression that corrosion of steel in seawater environments is a linear function of time (the “corrosion rate”). More recently non-linear functions for corrosion loss have been proposed calibrated to aggregated data from a wide variety of sources. Unfortunately, this use of the data produces models with wide ranges of uncertainty and makes it difficult to predict future corrosion and to assess the effect of steel composition and environmental influences. Recent research has produced a model based on the fundamental characteristics of steel corrosion, including the effect of biological influences. Detailed investigations show that the process controlling the (instantaneous) rate of corrosion changes as corrosion progresses. This is represented as a sequence of phases for which fundamental theoretical justifications and mathematical relationships have been derived. To ensure the model has practical validity, it has been calibrated to ...