ABSTRACT
The accuracy of the displacement controlled approach depends on the level of precision on predicting the penetration path. This can be done rather precisely for symmetric collisions, where the striking ship collides under a right angle at the amidships of the struck ship and only few motion components are excited. Statistical studies have, however, indicated that the majority of collisions are non-symmetric in one or another way. Often the collision angle deviates from 90 deg or the contact point is not at the amidships. As in nonsymmetric ship collisions more motion components are excited, the penetration path cannot be predefined with reasonable precision, but it should be evaluated in parallel with the ship motions. Numerical simulations are to be carried out in a coupled manner, where the ship motions and the structural deformations are evaluated in the same calculation run. This allows evaluating the contact force and deformation energy based on the actual penetration and not based on the predictions made beforehand.
