Hull beam behaviour of passenger ships

Abstract Cut-outs for windows in the side plating of passenger ships reduce the shear stiffness of the hull girder considerably. As a consequence the hull girder will not fulfill the requirements of the engineering theory for stesses in beams. A simplified method is proposed for design purposes utilizing the finite element method. The FE-model consists of orthotropic plane elements representing the side plating and bar elements representing the decks. The accuracy of the method has been carefully investigated by comparing 2D and 3D FE-models of simplified hull girders with many decks and a variety of cut-outs. The behaviour of the hull girders diverges considerably from the engineering theory for stresses in beams. Application to an actual passenger ship, known from detailed 3D FE-analysis and full scale measurements, shows satisfactory agreement and indicates that the method is useful.