Experimental and numerical investigations on the ultimate longitudinal strength of an ultra large container ship

This paper figures out investigations into the ultimate strength of ultra large container ships (ULCS). Both the experiment and non-linear finite element method (NFEM) are utilized to evaluate the ultimate longitudinal strength behaviors of hull girder for ULCS in this study. Firstly, an experiment regarding the similar model is carried out to examine the characteristics of the ultimate longitudinal strength of the ultra large container ship's hull girder structures. The test model is designed by similar theory to reflect the progressive collapse behaviors of actual hull girder under hogging bending moment. Secondly, the results of simulations performed by numerical analysis into hull girder ultimate strength are compared with the experimental results. The results show good agreement with model test demonstrating the reliability of NFEM. Finally, a series of non-linear finite element analysis is performed to assess the ultimate strength of hull girder taking into account the effects of initial imperfections and both material and geometric nonlinearities, in which the typical 4,000 TEU, 10,000 TEU and 20,000 TEU representing normal and ultra large container ships are adopted as study cases to clarify the ultimate strength characteristics of ULCS. This analysis can help to cognize the ultimate longitudinal strength of ULCS.