Four-Point Bending of Metallic I-Core Sandwich Beams With Longitudinal Girder

I-core sandwich structure has great potential in the application of hull structure construction due to its high specific strength and relatively simple manufacturing process. The topic on the study of mechanical properties of I-core sandwich structure under bending loads is of interest to structural designers since the structure is often subjected to bending loads in engineering applications. In this paper, a metallic I-core sandwich beam with longitudinal girder was designed and manufactured using laser welding technique, and finally tested under four-point bend loading. The elastic-plastic behaviors and the ultimate load carrying capacity of this novel beam structure were obtained. A numerical model was developed to investigate the mechanical properties of this novel beam structure by finite element method. The results of the numerical model were compared with experimental data. Stress components of the front face and back face in the failure process were analyzed and discussed to investigate the failure of them. Results showed that the huge local bending stresses of plate caused the failure of the front face and back face. Finally, an improved scheme for the test was proposed to provide a pure bending load, which was proved by finite element simulation. All the findings aim to guide the engineering application of this structure.

Multiobjective Reliability-Based Design of Ship Structures Subjected to Fatigue Damage and Compressive Collapse

This work deals with reliability-based design and optimization of ship structures subjected to stochastic loads and accounting for the local fatigue damage and ultimate global strength. The reliability multi-objective structural optimization is performed in minimizing the structural component net-section area, lateral deflection and fatigue damage. The probability of compressive collapse and fatigue damage of the ship hull is used to define the minimum risk of structural collapse and best design solution. The Pareto frontier solutions calculated by the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) is employed in defining the feasible solutions of the design variables. The first order reliability method is employed to estimate the beta reliability index based on the topology of the structural component as a part of the Pareto frontier solutions. Comparing with the original design solution, the optimized section area decreased by 9%.

Random Combination Factors for Still Water and Wave Bending Moments

Based on the extreme value of the primary loads of ship hull girder instead of characteristic values, the more reasonable load combination factors are defined. In order to evaluate the random variation of newly defined load combination factors, based on Ferry-Berges & Castanheta (FBC) and Poisson square wave models, the still water bending moments (SWBM), vertical wave bending moments (VWBM) and their combined processes are simulated to get the random realizations of load combination factors. The statistical analysis results show that the load combination factors take the value of 1 with the highest probability and can be well fitted by the Weibull distribution. Such information should be incorporated appropriately in the reliability analysis of ship hull girder.

Dynamic Response of Metallic Y-Frame Core Sandwich Panels Subjected to Air Blast Loading: Numerical Investigation

In this paper, the dynamic response of metallic Y-frame core sandwich plates subjected to air blast loading was investigated by employing the LS-DYNA software. The blast wave was generated by the directly detonation of TNT explosives. The deformation/failure modes and associated structural response were identified and analyzed in detail. Main attention was paid to explore the effects of face sheet thicknesses and core web thickness on the deformation response of Y-frame core sandwich plates. A comparison on the blast performance were drawn among the Y-frame core sandwich panel, corrugated core sandwich panel and solid plate in equal areal mass. Numerical results revealed that the Y-frame core sandwich panel experienced indent deformation in the front face, strut buckling in the core and large bending deformation in the back face under the stand-off distance of 100 mm. Increasing the face sheets and core web thicknesses could improve the blast performance of Y-frame core sandwich panels. The deflections of face sheets were sensitive to the variation of front face sheet and core thicknesses. Moreover, Y-frame sandwich panel has comparable anti-blast capacity with the corrugated counterparts and exhibits superior blast resistance than the solid plate.

Two Parameter J-A Estimation for Weld Centerline Cracks in Welded Single-Edge Cracked Plate Under Tensile Loading

This work examines the J–A two-parameter characterization of elastic–plastic crack front fields for weld centerline cracks under tensile loading. Extensive finite element analyses (FEA) have been conducted to obtain solutions of constraint parameter A, which is the second parameter in a three-term elastic-plastic asymptotic expansion for the stress field near the tip of mode-I crack, for modified boundary layer (MBL) model and welded single-edge cracked plate (SECP). Solutions of the constraint parameter A were obtained for the material following the Ramberg-Osgood power law. The crack geometries analyzed include shallow and deep cracks, and remote tension loading levels cover from small-scale to large-scale yielding conditions. The effects of weld material mismatch and weld width on crack tip constraint were considered in the FEA. A constraint parameter AM, only caused by material strength mismatch, is defined and its parametric equation was obtained. The total constraint in the bi-material weldment can be predicted by adding together AM and A in the homogeneous material. Good agreements were achieved for welded SECP specimen with different crack size and weld width from small-scale to large-scale yielding conditions. This methodology would be useful for performing constraint-based elastic-plastic fracture analyses of other welded test specimens.

Effect of Spectrum Tail Length on Modulational Instability and Freak Wave Occurrence in JONSWAP Sea States

In this study, probability of freak wave occurrence due to modulational instability in JONSWAP sea states are investigated. This investigation has been conducted based on the quantitative indicators of instability in wave spectrum, which are two Benjamin-Feir index (BFI) [1,2] with different spectral bandwidth definitions and Π number [3]. Evolution of wave field are simulated using fully nonlinear phase-resolving Chalikov-Sheinin (CS) numerical model [4,5]. Initial sea surface is controlled with JONSWAP shape parameters (α and γ) and random initial phases. Effect of high frequency end of spectrum on modulational instability and freak wave evolution are discussed by considering 4 different tail lengths. According to simulation results, all parameters that are considered here perform as an indicator for the occurrence of extreme events which makes it possible to define a certain interval for indicators, where freak wave occurrence probability is the highest and potentially dangerous, to be possibly used in extreme wave forecasting. Another key finding is that, modulational instability increases when high frequency part of spectrum is present (longer tail) as expected. Nevertheless, after certain nonlinearity, modulational instability is more prone to result in breaking which significantly decreases the probability of occurrence of freak events. Therefore, spectra with shorter tail length result in more dangerous sea states.

Numerical Modelling of the Mooring Line Failure Induced Performance Changes of a Marine Fish Cage in Irregular Waves and Currents

This study aims to investigate the performance changes resulted from a mooring line failure of a marine fish cage exposed to irregular waves and current. A numerical model based on the lumped mass method and Morison equation was extended to simulate the mooring line failure scenario. In this study, the failed resulting changes were compared with its normal counterpart in both the time domain and the frequency domain. After one upstream anchor loss, the maximum tension on the remaining anchor has increased significantly, as well as the drift distance of the rearing part (net chamber, floating collar, and tube-sinker) of the fish cage. The resulting changes can also be seen in both the wave-frequency and the low-frequency region in the spectra, including mooring tensions and body motions.

Experimental Assessment of Form Based Approach for Predicting Extreme Value Distribution of Hull Girder Bending Moment in a Ship

This paper describes a series of towing tank tests using a scaled model of a recent container ship for validating the First Order Reliability Method (FORM) based approach to predict the maximum response. The FORM based approach is adopted in conjunction with the nonlinear strip method as an estimation method for the most probable wave episodes (MPWEs) leading to the given extreme wave-induced vertical bending moments (VBMs). Tank tests under the pre-determined MPWEs are conducted to evaluate the extreme wave-induced VBMs. Numerical simulations based on the coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are also conducted and are compared with the test results under the MPWEs. Furthermore, to estimate the extreme VBM statistics, tank tests under random irregular waves are conducted. A series of validations of the probability of exceedances (PoEs) of the VBM evaluated from the FORM based approach is carried out. The effect of hydroelastic (whipping) vibrations on the extreme VBM statistics are finally discussed.

An Ontology-Based Approach for Developing Offshore and Onshore Process Equipment Inspection Knowledge Base

A collection of inspection results is an essential input in assessing and managing the technical integrity of offshore and onshore process equipment. The inspection results enable the current condition of the equipment, the type of damage mechanism, and the severity and location of the degradation to be investigated. Typically, the inspection results are documented in a text-format report and stored in a conventional data repository. Conventional inspection data storage has drawbacks in terms of the sharing, exchange, and retrieval of information within an inspection knowledge domain, due to the lack of knowledge representation. This study proposes an ontology-based approach for developing an inspection knowledge base, in order to improve the degree of retrieval, distribution, and administration of inspection results. Ontology provides a semantic structure and relations for concepts in the inspection knowledge domain, which facilitate semantic search capability and enable increased utilization, enhanced communication and improved exchange of inspection information. A case study of a static equipment inspection is shown, to demonstrate the application of an ontology-based approach in facilitating data and information retrieval from an inspection knowledge base.

Fracture Mechanics Based Mooring Fatigue Analysis for a Semi-Submersible Subjected to Triple Narrow-Band Loading Processes

In the general offshore operating locations, mooring systems are normally considered to be primarily affected by environmental loadings induced by waves, wind and current. WF motion induced by first-order waves, LF motion induced by second-order waves and wind would make the most contribution to the fatigue damage of mooring lines. However, it was reported recently that in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), the fatigue life of mooring lines can be significantly affected by the vortex induced motion (VIM) induced by loop current. The aim of this presented paper is to address the influence of VIM on fatigue life of the mooring system operating at the central of the GoM through performing a fracture mechanics (FM) based fatigue analysis for an offshore mooring system. A frequency-domain mooring analysis for the semi-submersible is conducted where WF motion induced by first-order waves, LF motion induced by second-order waves and wind, and VIM induced by loop current are taken into account. WF motion, LF motion and VIM are treated as three independent loading processes. A wide-band loading combination method is then used for predicting the loading processes acting on the mooring system combining WF motion, LF motion and VIM. A fracture mechanics based analysis is performed to examine the fatigue life of mooring system, in which initial surface cracks in previous existence are assumed to grow from the surfaces of mooring chain links connecting to the fairleads. The stress intensity factor ranges to estimate the crack growth in the FM based analysis are obtained from a finite element (FE) analysis.