Abstract
A Conventional VLCC hull design has a large number of complicated
connections between the longitudinals and the transverse web
frames. The production cost of these joints is relatively high.
Thus, new design suitable for rational welding procedures are of
interest. A probabilistic fatigue damage model is established for
the purpose of a comparative study of a conventional slot
structure and a new production-friendly design without a flat bar
stiffener. The shape of the cutout in the web frame is for the new
structure determined by use of a finite-element-based optimization
program.Numerical results show that the fatigue life for the
shape-optimized slot is increased by a factor of 6 compared to the
conventional structure.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Marine Technology |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Pages (from-to) | 219-227 |
| ISSN | 0025-3316 |
| Publication status | Published - 1998 |