Assessment of Reliability of Existing Ship Structures

Abstract

A detailed approach has been developed for assessing structural safety and reliability of ships. The methodology provides a means for determining reliability levels associated with a hull girder, stiffened panel and unstiffened plate modes of failure. Procedures for estimating the non-linear extreme sea loads and structural strength which are required for the reliability analysis have been developed. Fatigue reliability of ship structural details was also addressed and further developed. The methodology was demonstrated on four ships; two cruisers, a double hull tanker and an SL-7 containership. Reliability levels associated with each mode of failure of these ships were determined and compared. Sensitivity analysis has been conducted which provides sensitivity of a safety index to variations in design variables associated with extreme loading conditions as well as with fatigue loads. Recommendations are made of target reliability levels for each ship type and failure mode. Design variables that have the highest impact on reliability have been identified and some guidelines are provided for improving design criteria.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 30, 1997
Accession Number
ADA330933

Entities

People

  • A. Plumpton
  • A. R. Mansour
  • M. Luckett
  • P. Wirsching

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computational Science
  • Data Mining
  • Data Science
  • Databases
  • Engineers
  • Hulls (Marine)
  • Information Science
  • Knowledge Management
  • Literature Surveys
  • Mechanical Working
  • Mechanics
  • Modulus Of Elasticity
  • Naval Architecture
  • Probabilistic Models
  • Ship Design
  • Statistical Algorithms
  • Surveys

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
  • Structural Health Monitoring of Composite Structures.