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Marine Structures 20 (2007) 143163 www.elsevier.com/locate/marstruc

Study on shellsolid coupling FE analysis for fatigue assessment of ship structure

N. Osawa, K. Hashimoto, J. Sawamura, T. Nakai, S. Suzuki
Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan Received 26 March 2007; received in revised form 30 March 2007; accepted 4 April 2007

Abstract A simple, robust and high-precision method for shellsolid coupling has been demonstrated. The coupling is achieved by a ctitious shell plane perpendicular to the original shell plane. The guidelines for this coupling technique for ship structural analysis are established by examining the local stress of the stool-like welded joint models. The surface stresses in the vicinity of the weld of a small corner joint model and a large ship structure model calculated by the proposed technique are in good agreement with those obtained from the multipoint constraint-based coupling models and the strain measurements. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed technique in the local approach fatigue assessment of actual ship structures. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Fatigue; Local approach; Finite element method; Coupling analysis

1. Introduction The approaches to the fatigue strength assessment have been further developed during recent years (e.g. [1]). In addition to the conventional nominal stress approach, local approaches such as the (structural) hot-spot stress (HSS) approach and the notch stress approach have reached the stage of practical application, and recommendations concerning stress determination for these approaches have been presented (e.g. [2,3]). Because ships are plate structures, global shell FE models are usually employed for simplicity and low cost. In the local approach, the modeling of weld is a problem in the
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 66879 7576; fax: +81 66879 7594.

E-mail address: osawa@naoe.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp (N. Osawa). 0951-8339/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.marstruc.2007.04.002

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shell FE analysis. For the HSS approach, Fricke [3] showed that the welds had to be modeled for the cases where the results were affected by local bending, e.g. due to an offset between plates. Regarding the modeling of weld in shell FE models, Niemi [2] presented a series of means by which the weld detail could be modeled, but did not give a clear recommendation. When a solid FE model is employed, modeling of welds is easily possible and the stress eld in the vicinity of the weld can be investigated with a high degree of precision. The notch stress needs to be evaluated by solid analysis for the case where the deformation near the critical point cannot be approximated by two-dimensional stress state. It is needed to extend the scope of application of solid FE analysis in order to make the local approaches more advanced. Ship hulls are redundant structures, and various loads, such as external sea pressure, inner cargo load, etc. act on them simultaneously with phase differences. In these cases, it is difcult to dene the boundary conditions for the local FE model if the extent of the model is limited in the vicinity of the welded joint. These boundary conditions can be evaluated by global (whole-ship or hold) shell FE models. As has been discussed, it is desirable to use solid local FE models. It is needed to transfer the angular rotations or the moments of the global shell elements to the translational displacements or forces of the local solid elements. There are some studies on the solid-based local approach considering the ships global load effect (e.g. [4]). The submodeling technique is generally employed in these studies. The conversions of the rotations/moments to the translational displacements/forces are performed manually in this technique. The fatigue assessment of a ship structure requires a huge number of load cases because the stress calculation is repeated for various heading angles, encountering wavelengths and loading conditions. The manual conversions mentioned above increase the analysis time inadmissibly. The need for rotation/moment conversions is eliminated by using shellsolid coupling FE models in the local analysis. The submodeling procedures themselves become unnecessary when the solid local model is embedded in the global shell model. It is possible to reduce the analysis time for the solid-based local approach assessment drastically by employing the shellsolid coupling FE analysis. In this study, a simple, robust and high precision shellsolid coupling technique is demonstrated. The coupling is achieved by a ctitious shell plane perpendicular to the original shell plane. The guidelines for this coupling technique for ship structural analysis are established by examining the local stress of the stool-like welded joint models. The surface stresses in the vicinity of the weld of a small corner joint model and a large ship structure model calculated by the proposed technique are compared with those obtained from the conventional multipoint constraint based coupling models and the strain measurements, and the effectiveness of the proposed technique in the local approach fatigue assessment of actual ship structures is investigated. 2. Shellsolid coupling techniques 2.1. Coupling via multipoint constraint (MPC) equations The coupling of shell and solid elements is usually achieved via MPC equations (e.g. [5]). This provides a way of modeling transitions with little or no stress perturbation in the

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vicinity of the dimensional interfaces. This approach can be applied for the geometrically non-linear analysis [6] and the structures with anisotropic, elasticplastic and composite materials [79]. However, the evaluation of the coupling equation is so troublesome that it is difcult to practice the precise MPC coupling in the practical design. In the practical analysis, shellsolid coupling by rigid link, such as RBE2 function of MSC. Nastran [10] is frequently employed as an alternative to the precise MPC coupling. The ease of the rigid-link denition makes it suitable for the practical analysis. However, superuous constraint in the direction of the plate thickness applied by the rigid link sometimes causes a large stress perturbation near the interface. Adding to this, because of the interaction of in-plane displacements caused by the shell rotations, the perturbation often sharply increases at the junctions where two interfaces with different orientations meet. There is considerable uncertainty as to the accuracy of local stress evaluated by rigidlink technique. 2.2. Coupling by ctitious perpendicular shell planes As an alternative to the MPC coupling or rigid link, sometimes solid elements are coupled with shell elements by a ctitious shell plane perpendicular to the original shell plane as shown in Fig. 1. Hereafter, this technique is called perpendicular shell coupling method (PSCM). The advantages in PSCM comparing with the MPC coupling and rigid link is as follows: (a) The shellsolid coupling is achieved with incredible ease even for complex-shaped solid parts. It is usable by anyone with a minimal skill in shell and solid FE modeling. (b) The superuous constraint in the direction of the thickness can be relieved by the inplane deformation of the ctitious shell, resulting in less stress perturbation near the interface in comparison to that for the rigid-link case. (c) The interaction of in-plane displacements at the junctions of interfaces can be absorbed by the in-plane and out-of-plane deformations of the ctitious shell, resulting in less perturbation at the junctions of the interfaces. The problem in PSCM is how to decide the stiffness of the ctitious shell. In this study, it is assumed that the elastic properties, Youngs modulus E and Poisons ratio n, of the ctitious shell are equal to those of the original shell plate. Hereafter, let tS denote the

Fig. 1. The concepts of perpendicular shell coupling method (PSCM).

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thickness of the ctitious shell. The stiffness of the ctitious shell can be controlled by changing tS. The inhibitory action against the stress perturbation near the interfaces and the junctions is reduced when thick tS is employed, while the transfer of the angular rotations or moments becomes insufcient and unreal concentrated deformation arises on the interface section of the solid part when tS is excessively thin. The value of tS which gives reasonable results depends on the model and the boundary conditions. Such optimum value of tS has to be established empirically, but there is no report on this problem for ship structures so far as the authors know. 3. Optimization of the ctitious shell thickness for ship structural analysis To optimize the ctitious shell thickness tS, simple welded joint models subjected to different loading conditions are examined. The models are shaped like the base joints of the stools in bulk carriers, and the extent of them are chosen so that the entire model can be modeled with solid elements. The analyses of the shellsolid coupling FE models created by PSCM with various tS produce results that serve comparisons with those obtained by the whole-solid models. In this paper, all FE analyses are based on the innitesimal deformation formulation and the theory of isotropic linear elasticity. 3.1. FE models of the stool joints The perpendicular and inclined welded joints of lower stools in bulk carriers are modeled as shown in Fig. 2. The thickness of the tank top plate is 10 mm (hereafter, referred to as t). The models are subjected to three types of load and boundary conditions illustrated in Fig. 3. The all displacement components are constrained on the back end of the model, and the tensile (Fig. 3a), vertical (Fig. 3b) and pressure (Fig. 3c) loads are applied on the front end or the upper face of the tank top plate. Figs. 4 and 5 show the whole-solid and shellsolid coupling FE models of the perpendicular and inclined joints. For the coupling models, the three-dimensional solid part extends to a minimum of ten times of plate thickness from the hot spot (the intersection of tank top, solid oor, girder and stool). The weld beads are not modeled in these models. The shellsolid couplings are achieved by PSCM. The thickness of the ctitious shell is chosen so that tS/t 1.0, 0.1 and 0.01. The analysis of the coupling model created by rigid-link technique is also performed for comparison. The number of manhours needed to set up the shellsolid coupling is less than 0.25 (15 min) for PSCM while it is more than 10 for rigid link. The analyses are performed by MSC.Marc 2005r2. The solid parts comprise of threedimensional arbitrarily distorted brick elements (Element 7 [11]). The number of division in the direction of the thickness is 8, and the element size in the vicinity of the joint is t/ 8 t/8 t/8. The shell parts are comprised of 4-node or 3-node bilinear thick-shell elements (Element 75 or 138 [11]). The number of the integration point in the direction of the thickness is 9 (default). The material properties of steel (E 200 GPa, n 0.3) are given to the models. We consider the coordinates shown in Fig. 2, x in the ships longitudinal direction (directed from the stool to the inside of the hold), y in the transverse direction and z in the vertical direction. The origin is at the hot spot.

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Fig. 2. The models of the stool joints.

3.2. Analysis results 3.2.1. Perpendicular joint (tensile and vertical load cases) A comparison of the out-of-plane (z-direction) displacements of the tank top plate computed by the whole-solid model and the PSCM-based shellsolid coupling FE models with tS/t 0.01 and tS/t 1.0 for the perpendicular joint model is plotted in Fig. 6. Fig. 6(a) shows the displacements on the longitudinal (x-direction) centerline, and Fig. 6(b) those on the transverse shellsolid interface and the transverse free edge. The deformations calculated from the coupling models are in good agreement with the results from the whole-solid model without distinction of the thickness of the ctitious shell. Because there are no signicant differences between the principal stress and the stress component in the direction perpendicular to the weld line (x-direction), x-components of the surface and mid-plane stresses are evaluated. The origin of the stress evaluation path is

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Fig. 3. The load and boundary conditions applied to the stool joint models.

at the notch (the intersection of the plate surfaces of the stool and the tank top) on the longitudinal centerline for the surface stress, and the intersection of the mid-planes of plates for the mid-plane stress. The evaluation path lies along the x-direction. The surface and mid-plane stresses of the solid part are evaluated by the linear interpolation or extrapolotion of the element stresses. A comparison of the x-component of the surface stresses, sSX, on the tank top plate computed by the whole-solid model and the PSCM-based shellsolid coupling FE models with tS/t 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 are plotted in Fig. 7. The results from the rigid-link-based coupling model are also plotted in this gure. The transverse axis in this gure is the distance of the read-out-points (ROPs) from the notch, d. The shellsolid interface lies at d 95 mm. The surface stresses calculated from the coupling models are in good agreement with the results from the whole-solid model regardless of tS excluding the vicinity of the interface (60 mmpdp100 mm). The stress of the elements right on the

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Fig. 4. FE models of the perpendicular joint.

interface (d 90 mm) is larger than the reference value (the result from the whole-solid model) for the rigid-link model while it is smaller than the reference for the PSCM-based models. Stress perturbation appears in the vicinity of the interface. The error (difference between the stress from coupling models and that from the whole-solid model) of the surface stress of the PSCM-based models is much larger than that from the rigid-link model when tS/tp0.1. However, this error becomes negligible and smaller than that of the rigid-link model when tS/t 1.0. A comparison of the x-component of the mid-plane stresses (stress on the mid-plane of the plate), smX, of the tank top plate computed by the whole-solid model and the PSCMbased coupling FE models with tS/t 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 are plotted in Fig. 8. The transverse axis in this gure is the distance of the ROPs from the intersection of the mid-planes, x. The shellsolid interface lies at x 100 mm. The mid-plane stresses calculated from the coupling models agree well with the results from the whole-solid model apart from the vicinity of the interface. Strong stress uctuation appears in the vicinity of the interface, and it becomes severe as tS/t decreases. The concentrated nodal force on the mid-plane transferred from the shell part and the nite bending rigidity of the ctitious shell cause this stress uctuation. The stress uctuation that occurs on the mid-plane decays rapidly with the distance in the direction of the thickness, resulting in less stress perturbation on the surface. The error of the stress is exceeding acceptable level when tS/tp0.1 while it becomes negligible excluding the element right on the interface (x 95 mm) when tS/t 1.0.

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Fig. 5. FE models of the inclined joint.

3.2.2. Inclined joint (tensile and vertical load cases) In the same manner, as the perpendicular joint model, the surface stresses calculated from the PSCM-based coupling models agree well with the results from the whole-solid model regardless of tS excluding the vicinity of the interface, and the calculation error in the stress from the coupling model becomes negligible when tS/t 1.0. A comparison of the surface stress, sSX, on the tank top plate computed by the whole-solid model and the PSCM-based shellsolid coupling FE model with tS/t 1.0 is plotted in Fig. 9. The transverse axis is the distance of ROPs from the notch, d. 3.2.3. Perpendicular joint model subjected to the pressure load A comparison of the surface stress, sSX, on the tank top plate of the perpendicular joint model computed by the whole-solid, PSCM-based (tS/t 1.0) coupling, and rigid-linkbased coupling FE models for the pressure load case is plotted in Fig. 10. The transverse axis is the distance of ROPs from the notch, d. In the same manner, as the tensile and vertical load cases, the surface stress of the PSCM model agrees well with that of the whole-solid model and the stress uctuation is negligible when tS/t 1.0. On the other hand, a considerable stress perturbation occurs for the rigidlink-based coupling model. It is considered that this stress perturbation is caused by the superuous constraint in the direction of the thickness and the interaction of in-plane displacements at the junctions of interfaces. The stress perturbation does not exert an effect

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0.1

0.0 Displacement (mm)

-0.1

-0.2

-0.3 Whole-solid -0.4 Coupling (PSCM , ts/t = 1.0) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.01) -0.5 -200 -100 0 100 200 Longitudinal distance from the hot spot, x (mm)

Transverse shell-solid interface (x = 100mm) 0

Displacement (mm)

-2

-4 Whole-solid -6 Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.01) -8 -200 Transverse free edge (x=250mm) -100 0 100 Transversal distance from the hot spot, y (mm) 200

Fig. 6. Displacement of the perpendicular joint model subjected to the vertical load.

on the accuracy of the surface stress within the region of do3t in this case, but the perturbation can become so large that it becomes difcult to maintain the accuracy of the local stress in some loading conditions. The calculation results obtained in this section can be summarized as follows: (a) PSCM technique can save enormous amounts of time for the shellsolid coupling in comparison with the rigid-link coupling.

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Perpendicular Joint 400 Tensile Load Case Whole-solid Surface stress, sx (MPa) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) 300 Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.1) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.01) Coupling (Rigid-link) 200

100

0 0 20 40 60 80 Distance from the intersection of plate surfaces, d (mm) 100

300 Perpendicular Joint Vertical Load Case 250 Whole-solid Surface stress,sx (MPa) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) 200 Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.1) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.01) 150 Coupling (Rigid-link)

100

50

0 0 20 40 60 80 Distance from the intersection of plate surfaces, d (mm)

Fig. 7. Surface stress for the perpendicular joint model.

100

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250 Perpendicular Joint Tensile Load Case 200 Mid-plane stress,mx (MPa)

150

100 Whole-solid 50 Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.1) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.01) 0 0 20 40 60 80 Distance from the intersection of mid-planes, x (mm) 100

100 Perpendicular Joint Vertical Load Case 80 Mid-plane stress, mx (MPa) Whole-solid Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) 60 Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.1) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 0.01) 40

20

0 0 20 40 60 80 Distance from the intersection of mid-planes, x (mm)

Fig. 8. Mid-plane stress for the perpendicular joint model.

100

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Inclined Joint 400 Tensile Load Case Whole-solid 300 Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0)

Surface stress, sx (MPa)

200

100

0 0 20 40 60 80 Distance from the intersection of plate surfaces, d (mm) 100

200 Inclined Joint Vertical Load Case 150 Surface stress, sx (MPa) Whole-solid Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0)

100

50

0 0 20 40 60 80 Distance from the intersection of plate surfaces, d (mm)

Fig. 9. Surface stress for the inclined joint model.

100

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300 Perpendicular Joint Pressure Load Case 250 Whole-solid Surface stress, sx (MPa) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) 200 Coupling (Rigid-link)

150

100

50

0 0 20 40 60 80 Distance from the intersection of plate surfaces, d (mm) 100

Fig. 10. Surface stress for the perpendicular joint model subjected to the pressure load.

(b) The accuracy of the local surface stress calculated by the PSCM-based coupling models is equal to or better than that of the rigid-link-based models when tS/t 1.0. (c) PSCM technique can inhibit the sharp stress perturbation caused by the superuous constraint and the interaction of in-plane displacements of the rigid-link-based models. (d) For the PSCM-based coupling models with tS/t 1.0, the inuence of the mid-plane stress uctuation near the shellsolid interface on the solid local stress can be neglected at a distance of two times of plate thickness or more from the interface. 3.3. Guidelines for PSCM-based shell solid coupling FE modeling In local approaches, the stress eld within the region which extends to a minimum of two or three times the plate thickness from the hot spot, has to be evaluated with a high degree of precision. Local approaches other than HSS, e.g., notch stress approach, or an analysis of fatigue aw growth based on fracture mechanics may be employed in the assessment. A high degree of precision of not only surface stress but also inner stress is required in these cases. Based on the results described above, it can be said that these requirements can be satised by using PSCM-based shellsolid coupling FE models created in accordance with the following guidelines for the welded joints in stool- or hopper-like structures: (a) The thickness of the ctitious shell is comparable to the plate thickness. (b) The three-dimensional solid part extends to a minimum of ve times of plate thickness from the hot spot.

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(a) is the condition to inhibit the surface stress perturbation near the shellsolid interfaces, (b) eliminates the effect of the mid-plane stress uctuation near the interface on the inner stress in the vicinity of the hot spot; the extent of the solid part is decided as the sum of the extents of the local stress evaluation region (three times of plate thickness) and the buffer zone which absorbs the mid-plane stress uctuation (two times of plate thickness). 4. Local stress analysis of welded joint models To conrm the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed approach for shellsolid coupling, welded joint models are examined. The models are selected so that the strain measurements and three-dimensional FE analysis results are available. The surface stresses in the vicinity of the weld are calculated using PSCM-based shellsolid coupling FE models following the guidelines shown in the previous section, and they are compared with the measured stresses and the results of the three-dimensional FE analyses reported in the literatures. The shellsolid coupling FE analyses in this section are performed by MSC.Marc 2005r2. The same elements as those used in Section 3.1 (solid: Element 7, shell: Element 75 or 138) are employed. The material properties of E 206,000 MPa, n 0.3 are given to the models. In the analyses, the surface stress component in the direction perpendicular to the weld line (x-direction) sSX is evaluated. The origin of the stress evaluation path is at the weld toe. The evaluation path lies in the direction perpendicular to the weld line. The surface stress of the solid part is evaluated by the linear extrapolation of the solid element stresses. 4.1. Perpendicular corner joint model Sugimura et al. [12] examined the local stress in the vicinity of the weld of the perpendicular corner joint model shown in Fig. 11. The hot spot is the intersection of the upper horizontal ange and the inner vertical ange. The surface stresses of the upper horizontal ange were measured by strain gages, and they were also calculated by MPCbased shellsolid coupling FE analysis. The solid part of Sugimuras model extended to about 20 times of plate thickness in ange and ve in web. The plate thickness of ange and web plates, t, is 20 mm. The number of division in the direction of the thickness is 8, and the minimum solid element size is t/9 t/9 t/8. The PSCM-based coupling model employed is shown in Fig. 12. The solid part extends to a minimum of seven times of plate thickness from the hot spot. The number of division in the direction of the thickness is 10, and the minimum solid element size is t/10 t/10 t/10. Weld beads are modeled in the solid part. At the corner of the weld bead, the bead and base plate are bonded together using MSC.Marcs glued contact function [13]. The ctitious shell thickness is chosen so that tS/t is 1.0. A comparison of the surface stress, sSX, on the centerline of the upper ange computed by the PSCM-based coupling FE model with that from Sugimuras MPC-based coupling model and the strain measurement is plotted in Fig. 13. The transverse axis in this gure is the distance of ROPs from the weld toe, d. In this gure, it is shown that the surface stresses calculated from PSCM-based coupling model are in good agreement with those obtained from the MPC-based model and the strain measurement. This good correlation

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Fig. 11. Perpendicular corner joint [12].

of the results demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed PSCM technique in the local stress evaluation of small joint models. 4.2. VLCC bilge knuckle model Ship Research Panel 245 examined the local stress in the vicinity of the welded joint of a VLCC bilge knuckle model shown in Fig. 14 [14,15]. The model was a bilge knuckle section for a double-hull VLCC in approximately 1/3 scale, and it was about 6 m in length, 5 m in width, 3.6 m in height and 20 tons in steel weight. To make stress distributions of the model similar to those of the actual ship, a three-oor space in the longitudinal direction was modeled. The model was xed to a rigid wall at the double-hull side, with the ships bottom being upside and the inner bottom being downside. The load was applied by three syncronized hydraulic jacks on the centerline of the double bottom as shown in Fig. 14. The thickness of the inner bottom plate, t, was 10 mm. The model was built from mild steel, and the welding was performed in accordance with NK rules. The hot spot is the intersection of the inner bottom plate, the inclined inner hull plate, the oor and the side girder. The ank angle of the llet weld bead at the hot spot was about 451. Because the plates intersect at an angle of 451, the joint can be modeled as shown in Fig. 15. The surface stress of the inner bottom plate was measured by strain gages, and they were also calculated by MPC-based shellsolid coupling FE analysis. The solid part of SR245s model extended to about eight times of plate thickness from the hot spot in the inner bottom plate. Adaptive P-method and a shape function suitable for the treatment of stress singularity were applied to the solid analysis. The solid surface stress was evaluated by calculating the strain components at the corner points of solid elements.

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Fig. 12. PSCM-based shellsolid coupling FE model of the perpendicular corner joint.

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300 measured 250 Surface stress, sx (MPa) Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) Coupling (MPC, Sugimura etal. [12]) 200

150

100

50

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance from the notch, d (mm) 30 35

Fig. 13. Surface stress of the upper ange of the perpendicular corner joint.

Fig. 14. Bilge knuckle model (Panel SR245 [15]).

Fig. 15. Simplied model of the weld joint in the VLCC bilge knuckle model.

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Fig. 16. Global shell FE mesh of the VLCC bilge knuckle model.

The surface stress of the inner bottom plate is calculated by submodeling technique using a PSCM-based shellsolid coupling local model. The global shell FE model is shown in Fig. 16. Considering the symmetry, one half-symmetric model is employed. The global shell FE analysis is performed by MSC.Nastran 2005. The global model is modeled by 4-node shell elements (QUAD4 [10]), and the element size in the vicinity of the hot spot is t t. The PSCM-based shellsolid coupling local FE model is shown in Fig. 17. The solid part extends to a minimum of eight times of plate thickness from the hot spot. The number of division in the direction of the thickness is 8, and the minimum solid element size is t/8 t/ 8 t/8. The nodal displacement and angular rotation calculated by the global shell model is transferred to this local model. The ctitious shell thickness is chosen so that tS/t is 1.0. A comparison of the surface stresses, sSX, on the inner bottom plate computed by the PSCM-based coupling FE model with those from SR245s MPC-based coupling model and the strain measurement are shown in Fig. 18. The transverse axis in this gure is the distance of ROPs from the weld toe, d. In this gure, it is shown that the surface stresses calculated from PSCM-based coupling model are again in good agreement with those obtained from the MPC-based model and the strain measurement. The hot spot of this model is in a complex multiaxial stress state. Though the guidelines in Section 3.3 are derived based on the simple load cases, the local stress of this model is evaluated with very high accuracy. Therefore, it is considered that the proposed guidelines are applicable to complex loading modes. This means that the local approach fatigue assessment of actual ship structures can be performed by following the proposed guidelines.

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Fig. 17. PSCM-based local shellsolid coupled FE model for the welded joint in the VLCC bilge knuckle model.

5. Conclusions A simple, robust and high precision method for shellsolid coupling has been demonstrated. The coupling is achieved by a ctitious shell plane perpendicular to the original shell plane. The guidelines for this coupling technique for ship structural analysis are established by examining the local stresses of the stool-like welded joint models. The surface stresses in the vicinity of the weld of a small corner joint model and a large ship structure model are calculated by the proposed technique and compared with those obtained from the MPC-based coupling models and the strain measurements. As results, the followings are found: (1) In the proposed coupling approach, the accuracy of the calculated local stress is assured when the thickness of the ctitious shell is comparable to the plate thickness and the solid part extends to a minimum of ve times of plate thickness from the hot spot. (2) For both a small corner joint model and a large ship structure model, the surface stresses calculated by the proposed coupling technique are in good agreement with those obtained from the MPC-based models and the strain measurements. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed technique in the fatigue assessment of actual ship structures by the local approaches.

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800

Coupling (PSCM, ts/t = 1.0) Measured Coupling (P-method, MPC, SR245[15])

Surface stress, Sx [MPa]

600

400

200

0 0 10 20 30 Distance from the notch, d [mm] 40 50

Fig. 18. Surface stress of the inner bottom plate of the VLCC bilge knuckle model.

Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. Tadashi Sugimura (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.) and Mr. Yoshiteru Tanaka (National Maritime Research Institute, Japan) for providing experimental and calculation results on the models analyzed in this paper. The authors would like to express to Mr. Kenji Nakata (Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.) our deepest gratitude for his cooperation in the FE modeling and analyses. Also, the authors thank Mr. Tetsuji Fukuoka (Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.), Mr. Masao Morikawa (Universal Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.) and Mr. Tetsuya Nakamura (Universal Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.) for their guidance or comments. References
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