Simplified analysis tool for ship-ship collision

The purpose of this paper is to develop a simplified ship collision analysis tool in order to estimate the structural damage and energy absorption of both striking and struck ships as well as prediction of rupture of cargo oil tanks of struck tankers. The present tool calculates external and internal dynamics independently. The 2-dimensional horizontal motions of both ships are taken into account. Structural deformation for both the striking and the struck ship is evaluated independently using rigid-plastic simplified analysis procedure. The developed tool was applied to the collision scenario where a VLCC in ballast condition collides perpendicularly with the mid part of another D/H VLCC in fully loaded condition. The results obtained from the present tool are compared with those obtained by large scale FEA, and fairy good agreements are achieved. The applicability, limitation and future enhancement of the present tool are discussed in detail.