Maximum load carrying capacity estimation of the ship and offshore structures by progressive collapse approach

The aim of the paper is to represent step by step progressive collapse analysis for maximum load carrying capacity estimation of a hull girder by using variant of Smith Method, named HULT by authors, with different element separation including single plates, stiffeners, hard corners and stiffened panels. The structural elements that form the ships and offshore structures are exposed to large vertical bending moments and especially compression or tension forces in the longitudinal axis in case of hogging and sagging under bad sea conditions. In recent years, it becomes very important and valuable to practically, fast and nearly correct estimation of the maximum vertical bending moment just before breaks in two (collapse) under the worst conditions. The optimum (accuracy, time, practicality) estimation of these values depend on how accurate the stress-strain relation of the structural elements are established. In this first part of study, the ultimate strength behaviour of the stiffened panels in decks, bottoms and sides is estimated by developed semi-analytical method with updated orthotropic panel calculation approach under uniaxial (only longitudinal axis) compression loads. The second part of calculation is focused on the progressive collapse analysis of hull girders under longitudinal uniaxial compression with Smith Method but with different element discretization in contrast to the conventional beam-column elements. Also some benchmark studies of such methods on ultimate limit state assessment of stiffened panels and nine benchmark hull girders of ships are conducted, using some candidate methods such as IACS Common Structural Rules (CSR), FEA with Ansys v13 and HULT prepared by authors. The results from the tests, FEM analysis and different computational approaches are compared to determine performance of the method