Understanding ship-grounding events

The paper presents a simple procedure to estimate the damage to a ship bottom and the associated seabed topology that results from a dynamic grounding event. The seabed is modeled as a rigid body and parameterized by a quadratic surface, i.e., a paraboloid, which can in principle model a wide range of seabed topologies. A nonlinear finite element program (LS-DYNA) is used to simulate the contact force versus the lateral penetration, from which the horizontal force component of powered grounding is estimated. The simplified procedure for analyzing dynamic and static grounding events is outlined. Simulations are performed for different ship speeds and for different initial levels of obstruction over the keel. It is shown that a static approach may replace the dynamic grounding simulation, thereby considerably reducing the computational work. The static approach allows for the quick estimation of the energy absorption during powered grounding, which is imperative for decision making during critical situations. The ultimate goal of the study is to provide a near real-time prediction of the risk of rupture of the cargo tanks and hull girder failure. Moreover, the residual strength of damaged ships is an important issue that is related to operations involved in the salvage of wrecked vessels, such as re-floatation and towing.