Numerical Analysis of Iceberg Impact Interaction with Ship Stiffened Plates Considering Low-temperature Characteristics of Steel

Abstract

It is essential to design crashworthy marine structures for operations in Arctic regions, especially ice-covered waters, where the structures must have sufficient capacity to resist iceberg impact. In this study, a numerical analysis of a colliding accident between an iceberg and stiffened plates was carried out employing the commercial finite element code ABAQUS/Explicit. The ice material model developed by Liu et al. (2011) was implemented in the simulations, and its availability was verified by performing some numerical simulations. The influence of the ambient temperature on the structural resistance was evaluated while the local stress, plastic strain, and strain energy density in the structure members were addressed. The present study revealed the risk of fracture in terms of steel embrittlement induced by ambient temperature. As a result, the need to consider the possibility of brittle failure in a plate-stiffener junction during operations in Arctic regions is acknowledged. Further experimental work to understand the structural behavior in a plate-stiffener junction and HAZ is required.

Keywords

• iceberg-structure interaction
• ice material model
• strain energy density
• crashworthiness