Finite Element Analysis of a Container Ship Struck by Rigid and Deformable Bows

A rigid striking bow is often applied in the analysis of ship-to-ship collisions. In this paper, a deformable striking bow is used to investigate the influence of deformed bow on the resistance of struck ship double-hull structure. The numerical simulations manage to describe the respective energy dissipated by the deformed striking bow and struck side structures. Furthermore, detailed information of the energy dissipated by each structural component is provided. As the material failure criterion strongly affects the numerical results, three constant-strain failure criteria are used and compared: PES, GL and LIU criteria. It is of considerable practical importance to estimate the extent of structural deformation and rupture during collision accidents. More collision simulations are performed to analyze the influence of collision locations on the structural crashworthiness of the ship.