Comparative Study on Collision Strength of LNG Carriers

The collision energy absorbing characteristics of side structure of the LNG carriers which have the cargo containment systems of the spherical and the membrane types are compared. A failure mechanism of the double hull side structures of 130, 000 $m^3$ class LNG carriers under sideways collision event has been simulated by using the detailed finite element calculations. In ship collision analysis, the finite element method based on explicit time integration has been use[1 with much success. Finite element modeling techniques for detail description of structural members antral ship motion regarding the dynamic behavior allowed to investigate the effect of bow shape and the initial contact position on side shell of collided ship. In the numerical simulations of the ship-to-ship sideways collision, the effect of the colliding bow shapes and the change of the colliding ship draft are investigated. The critical collision energy which is absorbed by a side structure of a collided ship until the fore-end of colliding ship arrives at the boundary of the cargo tank is calculated. The critical speed of specified colliding ships which can not penetrate the boundary of the LNG cargo tank of the collided ship under collision accident if evaluated.