ABSTRACT
Ship collisions are common marine accidents that may result in catastrophic consequences in some cases. There is few information about the effects of different bulbous bows on the damages to the side structures in ship collisions. In this paper, the deformation and damage characteristics of side structures under impact of the actual bulbous bows for various ship types are studied using the ABAQUS numerical simulation software. Parameters in the external dynamics of a ship collision such as the location of the contact point and collision angle are taken into consideration. The absorbed energy and deformation on the side structure are discussed in the comparative study. It is also found that different shapes of the bulbous bow significantly affect the penetration and damage of the side structures.
