Survivability - one topic of simulation based design for naval vessels: weapon efficiency, structural response, optimisation of protection

摘要

Since the tremendous rise in computer power and storage capacities in the last two decades the so-called simulation based design (SBD) is nowadays an undisputable procedure for new developments of surface ships or submarines. The available simulation tools cover not only the aspects of ship design from the point of a naval architect, but also with respect to the different weapon thereats and the eminently vital interest of improving the survivability of naval systems. The important issues for this objective are, on the one hand, to know the weapon efficiency and the corresponding structural response to determine the expected damage and, on the other hand, based on these facts, to optimise the protection by reducing the vulnerability of the entire naval system. In parallel to the rapid growth of computer performance the expansion of highly sophisticated hydrocodes for teh simulation of short time physics phenomena was driven forward. Numerical simulation tools have been developed especially for naval applications and have been in service for almost 20 years for all kinds of interactions between weapons and targets; eg underwater explosions against surface ships and submarines, missile impact, internal and external detonations, missile defence or mine countermeasures. The extremely high costs of experiments, the possible lack of target ships or the restrictions due to the continuous growth of environmental awareness emphasise the importance of simulation based designs. The paper deals with an overview of what is possible even today with the main focus on the program family DYSMAS. The next generation of the code is developed in cooperation with IABG (GE) and NSWC (US), a challenge for the millennium.