Numerical and analytical studies of ship deckhouse impact with steel and RC bridge girders

Bridges crossing navigable waterways are under the threat of accidental collisions from passing ships. However, previous research focus was mainly placed on ship collision with bridge substructures while ship-bridge superstructure collisions were largely ignored. In fact, superstructure collision accidents between bridge girders and ship deckhouses have occurred with increasing frequency in the past decade. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the bridge girder capacity against ship superstructure collisions in the design phase. In this paper, finite element models of a ship deckhouse and three types of bridge girders are established. Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the response of the bridge girders under ship deckhouse collisions. The application and validity of the commonly adopted rigid body assumption of bridge girders are investigated. The results are compared with integrated collision simulations where both the striking deckhouse and the struck bridge girder are modelled as deformable bodies. The impact force, structural failure mode, and energy dissipation during the collision process are discussed. The effects of girder material and structural configuration are also discussed. Based on the numerically obtained failure mode of the ship deckhouse, an efficient analytical design approach for bridge girders against ship deckhouse impacts is proposed.publishedVersio

Effect of preheating and preplaced filler wire on microstructure and toughness in laser-arc hybrid welding of thick steel

Acicular ferrite (AF) is the most important microstructural constituent to achieve high toughness at low temperatures in weld metal of steels. This is due to the relatively small grain size and large misorientation angles. AF is known to form at non-metallic inclusions (NMIs), but under high cooling rates, as in deep and narrow laser-arc hybrid welding (LAHW), this phenomenon is scarcely studied. In deep and narrow LAHW, insufficient transportation of filler wire to the root results in low amount of NMIs, thus bainite-martensite mainly forms due to fast cooling. In this work, a 45 mm thick high strength low alloy steel was welded by double-sided LAHW using different groove preparations. The effect of different cooling times on the microstructure in the weld metal and the heat-affected zone was studied. A low fraction of AF and high hardness were achieved in the root of weld metal when using standard LAHW. This was related to a rapid cooling time (Δt8/5 35 J) was achieved at −50 °C by combining preheating and preplaced filler wire, and up to 45 % fraction content of AF was reached. However, many NMIs were still inactive due to a small diameter (< 200 nm) and unfavorable chemical composition related to the high cooling rate. The external methods had no influence on the occurrence of weld centerline cracks in the root, which will require further attention to secure mechanical properties and integrity.publishedVersio

Experimental and numerical study of the fragmentation of expanding warhead casings by using different numerical codes and solution techniques

AbstractThere has been increasing interest in numerical simulations of fragmentation of expanding warheads in 3D. Accordingly there is a pressure on developers of leading commercial codes, such as LS-DYNA, AUTODYN and IMPETUS Afea, to implement the reliable fracture models and the efficient solution techniques. The applicability of the Johnson–Cook strength and fracture model is evaluated by comparing the fracture behaviour of an expanding steel casing of a warhead with experiments. The numerical codes and different numerical solution techniques, such as Eulerian, Lagrangian, Smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH), and the corpuscular models recently implemented in IMPETUS Afea are compared. For the same solution techniques and material models we find that the codes give similar results. The SPH technique and the corpuscular technique are superior to the Eulerian technique and the Lagrangian technique (with erosion) when it is applied to materials that have fluid like behaviour such as the explosive and the tracer. The Eulerian technique gives much larger calculation time and both the Lagrangian and Eulerian techniques seem to give less agreement with our measurements. To more correctly simulate the fracture behaviours of the expanding steel casing, we applied that ductility decreases with strain rate. The phenomena may be explained by the realization of adiabatic shear bands. An implemented node splitting algorithm in IMPETUS Afea seems very promising

Root formation and metallurgical challenges in laser beam and laser-arc hybrid welding of thick structural steel

Single-pass laser beam welding (LBW) of steel components with wall thickness of > 10 mm is of high interest due to enhanced productivity. Deep penetration LBW provides excessive hardness and certain quality issues such as root humping in flat position, which is associated with disability of surface tension to sustain melt dropout. High hardness is associated with fast cooling rates and shortage of filler wire transportation to the root of the fusion zone. Use of laser-arc hybrid welding (LAHW) can promote acicular ferrite by adding filler metal and additional heat input from the arc. However, LAHW may promote humping and adjustment of many parameters is required hindering its application. In this work, a 16 kW disk laser was used in butt welding of 12 mm and 15 mm thick plates with different bevelling geometries. Root humping occurred within a wide range of process parameters providing narrow process window. Twelve millimeter thick plates were successfully welded with a single-pass technique providing good quality of root by using zero air gap regardless bevelling geometry. Welding of 15 mm plates was more challenging, and the process was sensitive even with a slight parameter change. Improved results were achieved with application of small air gap. Acceptable hardness in both weld metal and heat affected zone (< 290 HV) was achieved for both plate thicknesses providing good toughness of minimum 27 J at −50°C.publishedVersio

Experiences with Thermal Spray Zinc Duplex Coatings on Road Bridges

Road bridges are typically designed with a 100-year lifetime, so protective coatings with very long durability are desired. Thermal spray zinc (TSZ) duplex coatings have proven to be very durable. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) has specified TSZ duplex coatings for protection of steel bridges since 1965. In this study, the performance of TSZ duplex coatings on 61 steel bridges has been analyzed. Based on corrosivity measurements on five bridges, a corrosivity category was estimated for each bridge in the study. Coating performance was evaluated from pictures taken by the NPRA during routine inspections of the bridges. The results show that very long lifetimes can be achieved with TSZ duplex coatings. There are examples of 50-year old bridges with duplex coatings in good condition. Even in very corrosive environments, more than 40-year old coatings are still in good condition. While there are a few bridges in this study where the coating failed after only about 20 years, the typical coating failures are due to application errors, low paint film thickness and saponification of the paint. Modern bridge designs and improved coating systems are assumed to increase the duplex coating lifetime on bridges even further.publishedVersio

Numerical and analytical studies of ship deckhouse impact with steel and RC bridge girders

Bridges crossing navigable waterways are under the threat of accidental collisions from passing ships. However, previous research focus was mainly placed on ship collision with bridge substructures while ship-bridge superstructure collisions were largely ignored. In fact, superstructure collision accidents between bridge girders and ship deckhouses have occurred with increasing frequency in the past decade. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the bridge girder capacity against ship superstructure collisions in the design phase. In this paper, finite element models of a ship deckhouse and three types of bridge girders are established. Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the response of the bridge girders under ship deckhouse collisions. The application and validity of the commonly adopted rigid body assumption of bridge girders are investigated. The results are compared with integrated collision simulations where both the striking deckhouse and the struck bridge girder are modelled as deformable bodies. The impact force, structural failure mode, and energy dissipation during the collision process are discussed. The effects of girder material and structural configuration are also discussed. Based on the numerically obtained failure mode of the ship deckhouse, an efficient analytical design approach for bridge girders against ship deckhouse impacts is proposed

Numerical Investigation of the Collision Damage and Residual Strength of a Floating Bridge Girder

For bridges across wide and deep waterways, fixed foundation structures are not possible to be built due to technical restrictions. Alternatively, pontoon supported floating bridges which do not require fixed foundations can be installed. As the girders of floating bridges may have a low clearance from the sea level, a critical design consideration is the capability of the girder to resist the collision of passing ships. It is hence important to investigate the collision response of the bridge girder and evaluate girder residual strength after the collision. In this paper, finite element (FE) models of a ship deckhouse and a floating bridge girder are established. The girder response to ship deckhouse collision is investigated through integrated numerical simulations. Parametric studies are conducted to compare the girder response for various girder designs and collision scenarios. The residual strength of the girder after in damaged condition is also investigated. Based on the numerical results, a residual strength index (RSI) is proposed for fast prediction of the girder damage level based on the absorbed energy

Experiences with Thermal Spray Zinc Duplex Coatings on Road Bridges

Road bridges are typically designed with a 100-year lifetime, so protective coatings with very long durability are desired. Thermal spray zinc (TSZ) duplex coatings have proven to be very durable. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) has specified TSZ duplex coatings for protection of steel bridges since 1965. In this study, the performance of TSZ duplex coatings on 61 steel bridges has been analyzed. Based on corrosivity measurements on five bridges, a corrosivity category was estimated for each bridge in the study. Coating performance was evaluated from pictures taken by the NPRA during routine inspections of the bridges. The results show that very long lifetimes can be achieved with TSZ duplex coatings. There are examples of 50-year old bridges with duplex coatings in good condition. Even in very corrosive environments, more than 40-year old coatings are still in good condition. While there are a few bridges in this study where the coating failed after only about 20 years, the typical coating failures are due to application errors, low paint film thickness and saponification of the paint. Modern bridge designs and improved coating systems are assumed to increase the duplex coating lifetime on bridges even further