FPSO Collision Analysis Using a Simplified Analytical Technique

Collision between vessels may lead to structural damage and penetration of hulls. The structural damage of a hull may eventually bring about global collapse of the hull girder and outflow of oil, which would contaminate seawater. Therefore, various regulations require the strength of a vessel after collision to satisfy given criteria, and owners usually request collision analyses to confirm the structural safety of their vessels. In the process of designing a vessel to satisfy the collision strength criteria, the strength has been assessed mostly by conducting collision analyses using numerical techniques, such as dynamic, non-linear, finite-element analysis. Design is an inherently iterative process during which many changes are necessary due to the endless needs for reinforcement and modification. Numerical techniques are not adequate for coping with a situation in which collision analysis is frequently required to provide the revised results that reflect the repetitive changes in designs. Numerical techniques require a lot of time and money to conduct in spite of recent improvements in computing power and in the productivity of modeling tools. Therefore, in this paper, an analytical technique is introduced and a collision problem is idealized and simplified using reasonable assumptions based on appropriate background. The technique was applied to an example of an actual FPSO and verified by comparing the results with results from the numerical technique. A good correlation was apparent between the results of the analytical and numerical techniques.