Idealized Structural Unit Method for Dynamic Collapse Analysis of Plates

Marine and offshore structures are subjected to dynamic loads during the lifetime. The values or directions of dynamic loads rapidly change in time, causing a significant rise of inertial forces in structural elements. Dynamic loads appear as result of ship’s movement at sea, wind and wave acting, machinery operation, hull vibration and sometimes even as result of collision or explosion. The corresponding dynamic forces and moments act on the ship hull provoking the appearance of stresses, often leading to buckling, plastic deformations or fatigue cracks of the structural members. To ensure the safety and reliability of structures under dynamic loading it is necessary to estimate the transient effects on the collapse behavior of plate panels. According to the Common Structural Rules (CSR) the safety of marine structures must be proved performing the hull girder ultimate strength check. As a possible tool for the ultimate strength analysis, the Finite Element Method (FEM) is widely spread among engineers. In spite of the great effectiveness, the transient Finite Element Analysis (FEA) remains very time consuming and sometimes difficult to accomplish well. Therefore, the formulation of the Idealized Structural Unit Method (ISUM) is extended for the dynamic collapse analysis of marine structures.