INTENTIONALGROUNDINGOFDIASBLEDSHIPS

* HagbartS.Alsos andJrgenAmdahl NorwegianUniversityofScienceandTechnology,NTNU DepartmentofMarineTechnology,NO7450Trondheim,Norway *Hagbart.S.Alsos@ntnu.no Jorgen.Amdahl@ntnu.no

Keywords:Shipgrounding,Finiteelementapplications,Convergencestudies

Abstract: Thepaperpresentsamodeltodeterminetheconsequencesofintentional grounding (structural damage, rupture, potential flooding or oil spill). The groundingprocessisdecoupledintorigidbodymotionandresistancetopenetration of the bottom structure. The latter is calculated on the basis of predetermined resistancepenetrationrelationships for atanksectionwiththenonlinear finite elementcodeLSDYNA.Thefocusishereputonthephysicsandmodellingissuesof theproblem,andconcentratesontheinitialstateofashipgrounding. Theworkispartofa projectdevotedtodevelopmentofadecisionsupportsystem, whichwillprovideguidancetotheshipmasterandthevariouslevelsofdecision makersonboardandonshoreonhowtooperateashiponceapotentiallycritical damagehasoccurred:i.e.howtomanoeuvreincriticalwaterswithlossofpropulsion ordamagedmanoeuvringsystems,howtooperate/navigatetolimitsealoads,such thathulldamage(e.g.duetocollision,grounding,overloadingofdegradedstructure) doesnotpropagatetoacriticallevelfortheentireship,and, asalastresort,to assesstheconsequencesofrunningtheshipaground.Theprojectisfundedbythe EuropeanCommunityunderFrameworkProgramme6. 1.INTRODUCTION Bothhistoricalandrecenteventshavemadeitclearthatshipgroundingandcollision representsignificanthazards.Thisappliesbothwithrespecttolossofhumanlives, severe environmental consequences and economical loss. The most typical consequenceofshipgroundingandcollisionisoilspillasexemplifiedforinstanceby theSeaEmpresswhichspilled65,000tonsofcrudeoilatMilfordHaven harbor, Wales, in1996.In1997,theNakhodka,aRussiantankercarrying19,000tons of heavy fuel oil broke into two during storms in the Sea of Japan with severe environmentalconsequences. If counter measures are not taken the risk associated with maritime transport especiallyinNorthernEuropeanwatersislikelyincreasesubstantiallyinthefuture. PlansarebeingdraftedfordevelopinglargefacilitiesinNorthRussiafordepositingof nuclearwastefromEuropeanpowerplants.Thisimpliestransportofsuchwastealong Norwegian coast also during extreme weather conditions in wintertime. The

expandingoilexploitationintheBarentsseaisprojectedtoincreasecurrenttransport volumesfrompassageofoneVLCCtankerperweekatpresent,tooneVLCCperday in2007.Itisevidentthattheexposuretooilspillfromstrandedtankersincreases considerably. This is all the more serious as the Barents sea is one of the last unspoiledmarineenvironmentinEuropeandhostsoneoftheworldsrichestand mostpristinemarineecosystems.Arcticareasareparticularlyvulnerabletopollution, duetolocalclimaticconditionsandthefragilityofthefoodchainmechanisms.A largeoilspillcouldcausedramaticconsequencestothewildlifeinthisarea,bothsea birds,mammalsandfishstocks. Theadoptionofdoublesidehullsinoiltankerhasbeenrecognizedasaneffective countermeasuretopreventadisastrousdamageinducedbycollisions.However,when consideringthatoceangoingvesselsareincreasingnotonlyinsizebutalsoinspeed, the threat of disastrous collision accident should be further mitigated also on the responsibilityofstrikingships. 2. PROJECTOVERVIEW Present ships are equipped with extensive systems for sensing and monitoring. Monitoringofpropulsionandmaneuveringsystemsarestandard,andhullstrength monitoringsystemsarebecomingmoreandmorecommononnewvessels.However, modernsensingandmonitoringsystemsprovidesawealthofdata,andthenumberof alarmstriggeredifasystemfailscanmakeitdifficulttoidentifytheactualsourceof theproblem(alarminflation).Furthermore,thesystemsfocusoneachsystemas standaloneunit,anddonotconveyanoverallpictureoftherisklevelfortheshipasa whole, making it difficult to perform an appropriate assessment of the situation. Finally,veryfewsystemsprovideguidancetotheshipmasterorthecrewonhowto operatetheshipifoneormorecriticalsystemshavefailed. In order to meet this challenge a joint industry project funded by the European Community under Framework Programme 6 is launched. The project is entitled: DecisionSupportSystemforShipsinDegradedConditions(DSS_DC).managingthe project. Theobjectivesoftheprojectareto: DevelopanefficientonboardDecisionSupportSystem(DSS)forhandlingof shipsindegradedcondition. Developsimulationandguidancemodulesformasteringashipinheavyseas in the main emergencies: Loss of propulsion, Damage to maneuvering systems,Collision/hulldamage,andGrounding Developefficientsystemsforcrisisassistanceanddecisionsupportfromon shore command centers and vessel traffic control centers, based on direct information about technical condition of the ships systems. This includes systemsforautomatedshipshoretransferofconditiondatafortheonboard systems.

Extendonboardsensingandmonitoringsystemswithmodulesandmodels for Technical Condition Management to assess the capacity of supporting functionslikee.g.powergeneration. Establish tools for consequence assessment of intentional grounding. This objectiveisparticularlyaddressedinthepresentpaper

ThefinaloutcomeofthiseffortwillbeprototypeinstallationsofthedevelopedDSS systemandManMachineInterface(MMI)onboardonepassengervesselandone cargovessel. TheIdeaofIntentionalGrounding Afteracriticalevent,suchascollision,explosionorgrounding,theworstoutcome mightbethatthevesselendsupbybreaking,sinkingorstrandinginanuncontrolled manner.ThePrestigeaccidentdemonstratedthatshipwreckspotentiallymayleakoil for years, thereby representing a continuous pollution threat. Alternatively, a last resortinacriticalsituationmaybetoruntheshipagroundinacontrolledmannerin shelteredwaters.However,runningtheshipagroundisbyitselfariskyundertaking. Atpresent,veryfewtoolsareavailabletotherelevantdecisionmakerstoassessthe consequencesofsuchadecision. Apartoftheprojectisdedicatedtothedevelopmentofsimpleproceduresandtools forconsequenceanalysisofshipgrounding.Thetoolswilluseinformationfromthe ships sensing and monitoring systems as input (hull monitoring system, loading computer etc.) together withsimplifiednumericalmodels for hull girder strength. Selected grounding scenarios for typical ship types will be calculated priori to establishparametricformulaforestimateddamageandcontactforcebetweenshipand the sea floor. The final assessment will account for still water loading, dynamic loadingfromwavesandtide,aswellaslocalcontactforcesfromtheseafloor. 3. INTENTIONALGROUNDING Shipgroundingisaverycomplexprocess.Thegroundingforcecannotbeestimateda priori.Itdependsontheresistancetopenetrationoftheobstructionintothebottomof theship,andtheindentationdependsagainontherigidbodymotionoftheship (heave,pitch,androll)asittravelsovertheobstruction.Furthermore,thegrounding damagewillofteninvolvedeepcrushingandtearingofbottomplating,stiffenersand girdersoverasubstantialpartoftheshiplength.Rigorousanalysisofsuchproblems calls for nonlinear finite element methods (NLFEM). However, the size of the problemmakesthisatremendoustask.Arelativelyfinemodelmaytakedaystorun throughwithtoday'sCPUcapacity.Includingthetimeconsumedtomakethemodel, anextraweekofintenseworkcanbeadded.Thenthereistheproblemoffixingbugs andmakingthesimulationrunsmoothly.Ifatallsuccessful,theprocessmaytake weekstocomplete.Thus,simplificationshavetobemade.Anoperationaldecision supportsystemrequiresthegroundingsimulationtobeperformedwithinseconds.

Thiswillbeachievedby:

Decoupling the rigid body motion and the resistance to penetration of the bottomstructure. Predeterminedresistancepenetrationrelationshipsforthetypicalshipbottom structures

ASimplifiedComputerModel Asimplifiedcomputerizedmodelwillbeestablishedbasedonarigidbodysystem withinteractingloadsandforcesinasixdegreeoffreedomsystem.Itisconvenientto distinguishbetweenmotionsintheverticalplane;heave,pitch,rollandthehorizontal plane;surge,sway,yaw.Thecouplingbetweenthemisweakandcanbedisregarded for grounding analysis. The vertical motion may be determined from hydrostatic considerations using a ship load and stability calculator, including the grounding contactforce.InthepresentprojecttheloadingcomputerSHIPLOADwillbeusedasa platformforthewholesystem. Thenecessaryinputtothisanalysiscomprises: shiphydrodynamicdata shiplightweightdistribution load condition, including bunker situation and potentially flooded compartments initialdraughtandtrim(whichmaybecalculatedfromtheaboveinformation) hullgirderloadeffects(stresses)frommonitoringsystem(ifknown)this mayalternativelybeestimatedfromtheaboveinformation Intentional grounding is as slow process, thus transient dynamic forces may be neglected. The effect of grounding is represented as a concentrated force correspondingtotheinstantaneousindentationoftheseafloorintotheshipbottom forasinglepointcontactoraseriesofpatchloadsifgroundingtakesplaceovera large area. At a given time the estimated grounding force is input to the load calculator.Theupdatedmeandraught,trimandrollangleinthenexttimeincrement providethenecessaryinformationtocalculatethenextlevelofindentationofthesea floorintotheshipbottom,andhencethenewgroundingforce.Thisisillustratedin figure1.

Fv
Fh

Fv

Fh

Figure1:Modelofthegroundingprocess,[7]

Theloadandstabilitycalculatorwillalsoassessthehullgirderloadeffectsi.e. globalbendingmomentandshearforce,includingtheeffectofthegroundingforce. These will be evaluated against the available hull girder resistance in shear and bending.Anydegradationoftheresistanceduetobottomdamageisaccountedfor. The resistance to penetration of the bottom structure will be calculated by phenomenologicalnumericalformulationswhichhavebeenvalidatedagainsttestdata andresultsfromnonlinearfiniteelementanalysis(NLFEA).Asthebottomstructureis fairlyregularshapedoverthecargoarea,itisonlynecessarytomodelapartofthe ship.Inthiscasetwotanklengthshavebeenmodelled.Theresistancetopenetration isanalysedforaconstantindentationbyfirstpushingtheobstructiontheselected distance into the bottom, followed by motion along the ship. This provides information of the vertical and horizontal component of the contact force in the steadystatephase.Analysesareperformedforalargenumberofindentationlevels. Havingestablishedtheresistanceforvariousindentationlevels,theactualresistance based on the indentation calculated in the rigid body motion analysis can be determinedbymeansofinterpolation. The harmonization of ship classification rules ensures that ships are built fairly consistently. Within each size category of a ship type, different structural arrangementscanbeclassifiedintoasmallnumberofcharacteristicgroups.Foreach groupandseafloorcharacteristicstheresistancetopenetrationwillbeestablishedas describedabove. Inadditiontocalculatingthegroundingdamage,thepotentialdegradationofthehull instrandedconditionwillbeanalysed,takingintoaccounttheeffectoftides,waves, possibleoutflowofcargo,and/orfloodingoftanks.Thismayalsobeusedtoassess theforcerequiredtopulltheshipoftheofftheground. Theoutcomeofthegroundingsimulationsisinformationof: Likelydamageoftheshipbottomduetogrounding ruptureofcargotanks amountofcargospill hullgirdersstressestobeevaluatedagainstultimatehullgirderresistance prediction of potential damage escalation if the ship remains in stranded condition, taking into account weather forecasts. This includes hull girder loadsandstrengthassessment 4. GROUNDINGSCEARIOS Afactorofparamountimportanceistheseafloorconditionsatthestrandingsite.In general the conditions may vary from soft bottom (clay, sand) to sharp, rigid obstructionslikesharppinnacles.Obviously,itwillbeextremelybeneficialifasurvey of the sea floor characteristics at potential grounding locations is performed and assessed with respect to functionality. Some locations which are particularly favourablewithrespecttointentionalstrandinghavebeenidentifiedbytheCoastal

Directorate in Norway. No detailed survey of the sea floor has however been undertaken.Preparationoftheseafloorinordertosmooththesurfaceandremove unfavourableobstaclesmayalsobeenvisaged.Theactualconditionsshouldconstitute thebasisforthemodellingoftheseafloorinthebottomdamagesimulations. Theenvironmentalconditionsatthegroundingsiteshouldalsobemappedsothat theireffectonthehullgirdercanbeevaluated.Tidalvariationsareobviouslyvery important,becauselargechangesintrimand/ordraughtof astrandedvesselmay resultinexcessivehullgirderforces.Evenifthegroundingpreferablyshouldtake placeinshelteredwaters,windandwavesactionsmayinducesignificantforcesonthe hullgirder.Shallowwatereffectsmayalsohavetobeconsidered. GroundingScenarios As there exist very little information on the sea bed conditions, a few general scenarioshavebeenworkedout.Theproblemisassumedtobequasistatic,thusthe shipwillcrushedontotheseabottomslowlywithoutanymotionsinthehorizontal plane.Inthefirststageoftheproject,localdamagetotanksandthehullsectiondue topenetrationhavebeenanalyzed.Overalldamage,aslossofstructuralresistancein hoggingandsagging,arenottreatedhere.Thiswillbedealtwithlateroninthe project. Theproblemhavebeensimplifiedbydefiningthreedifferentindenterswhichcanbe combinedindifferentways.Thesearetherock,reefandshoalscenarios.Seabottom profilesarerelativeinsize,andneedtoberelatedtotheactualshipsize.Therockis assumedtobemuchsmallerthantheshipitself,only1/6ofthetotalshipbreadth, whilethelargerreefequalsto1/4B,whereBistheshipwidth.Thelargestindenter, theshoal,coversmorethanhalftheshipbreadth,seefigure3.Foreachpenetration object,asetofstandardizedpositionsisdefined.Onthebasisofthesescenarios,a databasewillbegenerated,whichcanbeusedforinterpolationforintermediate obstructions.Allinall,10differentcaseshavebeendetermined:

Crushingattransversebulkhead,longitudinalCL:rock,reef,shoal Crushingattransversebulkhead,1/4BfromlongitudinalCL:rock,reef Penetrationofmidtanksection,atthelongitudinalCL:rock,reef,shoal Penetrationofmidtanksection,1/4BfromthelongitudinalCL:rock,reef

(a) (b) Figure3:Thegroundingscenarios,(a)shoal,(b)reef,(c)rock.

(c)

Itisagreatsimplificationtolimitthenumberofscenariosto10cases.However,the bottomconditionsareabigquestionitself,sosimplificationsmayverywellbeas accurateasanyothermorecomplexwildguess. Frictionisanotherpartoftheproblem.Arockmayberue,haveanhighlyirregular shape,andcoveredbymarinegrowth.Auniquefrictionparameteristhereforehardto establish.Groundingsimulationsshowhoweverthatfrictionplaysaminorroleinthe totalenergyaccount.Therefore,withthebasisinliterature,[5]itmaybereasonableto assumeafrictionfactorcloseto0.3. 5. FINITEELEMENTANALYSIS Thecontactforcesatgroundingaredeterminedfromfiniteelementanalysis,withthe explicit FE code LSDYNA. It is commonly accepted that for transient and large deformationanalysis,explicitsolutionalgorithmsarebestsuited.AsKitamura[1] discusses,thegreatadvantageis thatnumerous elements canbehandled,without havingtodealwithlargestiffnessmatrices.Thedisadvantageisreducedaccuracydue totheexplicitformulationitself.Thiscanhoweverbecorrectedbyreducingthetime steporrefiningthemesh. Finiteelementanalysisputintoacollisionandgroundingaspect,haveundoubtedlya great potential. However, the method is tremendously CPU demanding, and so analysis may last for days or weeks if, the mesh is dense enough. This makes modelingcautionimportant.Onewaytoavoidunnecessarycomputationtime,isto find an adequate mesh with respect to accuracy, which will catch the structural behaviorandenergyresponse. MeshConvergenceStudy Groundingproblemsusuallyimplieslargedeformations,fractureandmaterialnon linearities.Ideally,averydensemeshshouldbeappliedinordertocatchdistortions andinstabilities.However,thesedamagedareasarefairlylocal,comparedtotherest oftheshipwhichremainsinanelastic/lowplasticdeformationregion,wherecoarser meshesareadequate.Acombinationbetweendensemeshinthecontactarea,and coarsediscretizationinboundaryzones,maybeawayforwardtoachieveaccuracy. However,thenatureoftheexplicitsolver,issuchthatitisconditionallystablewith respecttotimeincrements.Hence,verysmallelementswilldecreasethetimesteps andextendthesimulationtime.Caremustthereforebeexercised,bothinavoidingtoo coarse meshes due to reduced accuracy, as well as too fine meshes causing unnecessaryCPUdemandingsimulations.Forthisreason,meshconvergencestudies, ofhighlydeformedstructuralmembersshouldbeperformed.Inthisway,ameshcan befoundwhichbalancesthedemandsforbothacceptablesolutiontimeandaccuracy. Inthegroundingscenariosdescribedearlier,intersectionsbetweenbottomgirdersand transverse frames experience extreme plasticity. These are positioned vertically, betweentheinnerandouterbottomplating,creatingaviolentfoldingpatternduring grounding.Figure4showspartsofthebottomsectionduringgroundingwithareef.

Seenfromaglobalposition.figure(a),themeshisobservedtobeverydense.When closingintofigure(b),itisseenthattheelementswhichare22cmoflengthareon theverylimittobeabletogiveaphysicalrepresentationofthepanelfolding.Inorder to avoid overly stiff response and nonconservative capacity predictions, it is importanttofindanadequatemeshthroughconvergencestudies.

(a) (b) Figure4:Crushedbottomstructure,showing(a),thegirderframearrangementfor thelefttankwithoutinnerthebottom,and(b)closeupdeformation. A convergence study has been carried out for parts of the bottom structure, representedbytheintersectionbetweenatransverseframeandalongitudinalgirder. The model, which constitutes a cruciform is being evenly crushed in the vertical direction,whilesymmetryconditionsareassumedatthefreeedges.Thestructureis 2680mmhigh,15mmthick,andismodeledwithfourdifferentmeshsizes,the30t, 15t,7.5t,and4tmesh,wheretistheplatethickness.Asseenfromfigure5,thecoarse 30t mesh,givesaverydifferentfoldingmodecomparedwithdensermeshes.The resultofthisisamuchtoostiffresponse. Imperfectionsareimportantinbucklinganalysis,andaffectstheresultsinitiallyby governingthefoldingshape.Itishoweverreasonabletoassumethattheyplayaminor roleinthecrushingprocessofalargeandcomplexstructuresuchasashipsection. Thisisbecausedeformationofonepartwilldistortneighboringpars,andthereby introducenewimperfectionsasthestructuredeforms.

(a) (b) Figure5:Bottomframegirderintersectionscrushedintheverticaldirection,(a)the coarse30tmesh,and(b)the7.5tmesh.

Furthermore,astudyontheeffectofverticalstiffeningofthetransversegirderhas been performed. Simulations show, a dramatic increase of dissipated energy. In addition,allmodelsseemtoexhibitasinglefoldingshape.Itislikelythattheextra constraintsprovidedbytheverticalstiffenersreducethenumberoflowenergymodes, which yields the resulting folding effect, figure 6. Much of the same effect was witnessedbyAmdahlandKavlie[6]wherethesidestructureofthecruciformwas fixedintheverticaldirection,whichgavebirthtolargeshearforcesinthevertical direction and tensile forces in the horizontal direction. Again, extra constraints resultedinfewerfoldingmodes,whichleadstofasterforceconvergence.

(a) (b) Figure6:Bottomwebstructurewithverticalstiffening,showing(a)the15tmesh, and(b)the4tmesh. Figure7showsthatenergyconvergenceisachievedwithelementsizesdenserthan15 t.Itishowevereasytobefooledbythesmoothnessofenergycurves.Acomparison withtheforcedisplacementcurvesgiveninfigure8,showsthatameshsizeof15t behavestoostiffandisontheverylimitofwhatcanberecommended.Forlargeship models,the7.5t meshistoocostly.Anothermeshhaveforthatreasonbeentested. Positionedbetweenthe15tand7.5tmesh,thenew10tmeshshowsgoodconvergence qualities,figure7(b)andfigure8,withoutbeingtooCPUexpensive. Itisinterestingtoobservethatcoarsermeshesexperiencesthestiffeningeffectfrom selfcontactlaterthandensemeshes.Thisisduetotheproblemsofrepresentingthe foldingshapeatlargedeformations.Selfcontactwilltherebyoccurmuchlaterinthe process,whichgivescompletelywrongresults.Fromthisitisreasonabletoconclude thatameshsizeof15t=225mmisattheveryedgeofwhatcanbeacceptablewith respecttoaccuracy.Smallerelementssuchasthe10t arethereforerecommendedin suchstructures.

(a) (b) Figure7:Displacementenergycurves,showing(a)therelationbetweenstiffenedand unstiffenedcruciformsandtherelationbetweenmeshsizes.Figure(b), illustratestheconvergenceinenergyduetomeshrefinementofthestiffened cruciform.

Figure8:Theloaddisplacementdevelopmentofdifferentmeshsizes,forthestiffened cruciform. TheShipModel Severalshipmodelshavebeenmade.Allofthemarelimitedtotwotanksectionsof anoiltanker,dependingofwhichscenariostobesimulated.Familiarforthemall,is thattheyareheldinplacebytorigidtransverseframesateachbeamend,figure9. Theseareallowedtorotateabouttheirneutralaxisduringdeformation.Forgrounding taking placeinthemiddleofanoiltank,themodel is representedbyonefinely meshedtanksection,andtwocoarserhalftanksoneachside.Inthecaseofcrushing ofthetransversebulkhead,theproblemismodeledasshownbyfigure9(a).

(a) (b) Figure9:Simplegroundingmodelsofthehullbeamseenfromtheside,showing(a) reefcrushingintothethetransversalbulkhead,(b)penetrationofmidtank section. Theshiphullis42.5mwidewithacenterlongitudinalbulkhead,thelengthofone tankis32m.Usingthe15t mesh createsamodelwiththetotalnumberof500000 elements.Seenfromtheglobalperspectivethemodelisverylarge.However,itisnot abletogiveacorrectrepresentationofthebottomsectionresponse.Byapplyingthe 10tmeshandincreasingthenumberofelements,theaccuracyproblemcanbesolve, butthenatahigherCPUcost. MaterialandFracture The ship hull and frames consist of two different grades of steel. Side and deck sectionsarebuiltbymildsteel,whilethebottomsectionisdominatedbyahigher strengthsteelwithayieldstrengthof360MPa. Achallengeintheanalysisoflargedeformationproblems,suchasgrounding,isto predictfractureinitiationandcrackpropagation.Thisiscommonlydonebyremoving elementswhenacriticaleffectivestrainisexceeded.Themethodisverysimple,yet oneofthefewmethodsthatexistinmanyFEAcodes.Utilizingeffectivestrainasa fracturecriterionishoweveraveryroughgeneralizationofthetruebehavior.Thisis dueto thefactthatthecriterionisconstant,whiletheplasticstrainatfractureis different for various states of stress, such as compression, shear and tension. A constanteffectivestraincriterionmaythereforeintroducefractureatthewrongstage ofdeformation.Itmayevenleadtoruptureinapurecompressionstate,andmust thereforebeusedwithcare. Avarietyofdamagemodelsareavailabletoday.Manyofthemareverycomplexand requireawiderangeoftestparameters.Materialdatafor shipsarehoweververy limited,andoftenminimizedtoafewparameterssuchasyieldstress,peakstressand fractureelongation.Adamagecriterionshouldpreferablybesimple,andrequirea minimumofparametersfoundfromtests.Trnqvist[5],havesuccessfullycombined twodamagecriteriawhichrelyupononetestparameteronly,givenbyCrockcroft Latham[1]andRiceandTracey[3].Whencombined,theycoverawiderangeof stress states, and because its non complex formulation, the damage model often referredtoastheRTCLcriterion,willbeimplementedintoauserdefinedmaterial modelinLSDYNA,forapplicationsinthegroundingproblem.

It is a general problem for FE methods when predicting fracture that element representationofthestructuretendtobehighlymeshsizedependent.Thatis,the localstressesandstrainswillfordifferentmeshsizesundergoinglargedeformations, bedifferent.Fracturemodelsbasedsolelyononeelementstrainordamagevalues mayforotherelementsizesleadtooffsettolerancesandcompletelywrongfracture predictions.Forshipstructures,theelementsizetendtobeverylarge,oftenmorethan 15timestheplatethickness.Itisthenhardtocatchinstabilitiessuchaslocalizingof stresses and strains. Simonsen and Trnqvist [4] proposed a solution to this, by determiningarelationshipbetweendamageandmeshsize.Thiscanbeimplemented asasubroutineintoLSDYNAsuchthatdifferentsizesofelementswillfailatthe correcttime. 6.CONCLUSIONS The basicideasbehindtheintentionalgroundingprojecthavebeenoutlined. The ambition of the work is to predict the consequences of grounding with such a precision that decision whether a disabled ship may be safely stranded (integrity maintained,noorminimaloilspill),canbemadewithahighdegreeofconfidence.In additiontobeingreliablethecalculationsmustbecarriedoutwithinsecondsinorder toallowforfastevaluationofalternativeactions,tomaintainintegrityofthevessel. Theideaisthereforetocombineloaddeformationrelationsfromfiniteelement analysiswithfastsimplifiedrigidbodycalculations.Forthatreasonfiniteelement accuracyisveryimportant.Itishowevernecessarytofindabalancebetweenaccuracy and simulation time, especially for large models such as ship models. The way forwardmaythereforebetoperformstudiesofconvergenceofcriticalpartsofthe shipstructure.Suchastudyhasbeenoutlinedforastiffenedcruciform. REFERENCES [1]Crockcroft,M.,G.andLatham,D.,J.,1968,DuctilityandtheWorkabilityof Metals,J.Ist.Metals,33:96 [2] [3] [4] Kitamura,O.,2002,FEMApproachtotheSimulationofCollisionand GroundingDamage,MarineStructures,vol15,pp403428 Rice,J.andTracey,D.,1969,Ontheductileenlargementofvoidsintriaxial stressfields,JMechanics&PhysicsofSolids,v17,n3,pp.201217. Simonsen,B.,C.andTrnqvist,R.,2004,ExperimentalandNumerical ModelingofDuctileCrackPropagationinLargescaleShellStructures, MarineStructures,Vol.17,pp.127. Trnqvist,R.,2003, DesignofCrashworthyShipStructures,PhD.Thesis, DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering,TheTech.Univ.ofDenmark

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