Simplified Structural Assessment of Ship Collision Against a Semisubmersible Offshore Wind Floater

This work presents a simplified methodology to estimate the forcepenetration curve for a large diameter cylindrical panel, corresponding to the structural arrangement in the outer tanks of a semisubmersible floater. The methodology is based on the upper-bound theorem of plastic limit analysis, accounting for membrane straining as the main mechanism for plastic deformation. The structural solver is coupled with a rigid-body dynamics subroutine to study the combined effects on the floater when it experiences a ship collision. Results are compared with nonlinear finite element simulations to investigate the applicability as a simpler and low-cost alternative for application during pre-design stages.