VESSEL COLLISION DAMAGE RESISTANCE. DEVELOPMENT OF A PRELIMINARY TEST PLAN FOR LARGE/FULL SCALE VESSEL COLLISION TESTS WITH TEST CRITERIA DEFINITION AND FEASIBILITY EVALUATION

Ship collision, grounding, and stranding accidents often result in extensive property damage and, less frequently, in loss of life. Although continuous efforts are being made to prevent their occurrence, it is likely that such accidents will continue to occur. A validated and practical tool is needed to estimate the minimum requirements for collision protection of hull structures in order to reduce the probabilities of tank ruptures and/or total ship losses at sea due to collision, grounding, or stranding. It is this need which has triggered the interest in developing such design tools. Further, with the development of analytics, there is the need for experimental data derived from tests of adequate scale to validate the analytical methods. This study develops a preliminary test plan to conduct large and full scale collision testing within the context of applying the results to the state-of-the-art in collision testing prediction methodologies. The study defines the information needs that a large or full scale collision testing program must be designed to meet. Subsequent to defining criteria and requirements, actual planning of full scale ship collision and stranding tests was conducted. This planning included identifying candidate test ships, test sites, instrumentation suites, scenarios, completion schedules and cost estimates. Recommended programs were also proposed in the following areas: development of analytical methodologies; barge static tests; and barge dynamic tests. This study concludes that barge and full scale ship collision tests are technically feasible; that experimental programs will facilitate analytic development of viable methodologies for predicting vessel collision damage resistance; and that reliable prediction methodologies will make it possible to implement positive steps to reduce the consequences of ship collisions.

• Corporate Authors:

  Giannotti & Associates, Incorporated

  703 Giddings Avenue
  Annapolis, MD  United States 

  United States Coast Guard

  2100 Second Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20593
• Authors:
  • Van Mater Jr, P R
  • Giannotti, J
  • McNatt, T R
  • Edinberg, D L
• Publication Date: 1980-3

Media Info

• Pagination: 163 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barges; Crash tests; Crashes; Energy absorption; Groundings (Maritime crashes); Loss and damage; Prototype tests; Ships; Tankers; Test procedures; Testing; Water transportation crashes
• Old TRIS Terms: Collision damage prevention; Grounded barge analysis; Ship losses
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00312186
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: CG-D-21-80 Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-CG-833410-A
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 26 1980 12:00AM