Ultimate Strength of Bilge Panels in Container Ships under Combined Axial Compression, Bending and Lateral Pressure

摘要

Curved panels are widely used in fore and aft side shells and circularbilge parts of container ships, which are subjected to complicated loadscombination including axial compression, bending and lateral pressure,particularly in the most critical hull girder vertical bending conditions.In this paper, the nonlinear structural behaviors and ultimate strengthsof bilge panels are investigated by performing a series of finite elementanalyses, and interactions between above loads are also addressed.Meanwhile, variations in geometric parameters and structural scantlingsare considered according to practical structural designs in ship industry.Additionally, the effects of influencing factors such as initialdeflections are investigated, and closed-form ultimate strengthprediction formulae are proposed for curved stiffened plates. Theresults are representative and can be of reference values for structuralevaluations and designs for similar structures.