Volume 13, Issue 1

This study investigates the ultimate bending moment of box girders within ship structures, dissecting the impact of geometrical parameters, initial imperfections, and the direction of bending moment. Employing the Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis, this investigation navigates through the complex interplay among these variables to unravel profound insights into structural behavior. Initially, a comprehensive benchmarking analysis conducted to evaluate the accuracy of computational models against experimental data. The results demonstrated a high degree of precision, with discrepancies being limited to approximately 2 %. The examination of geometrical parameters unveils their significant role in shaping the structural integrity of box girders, shedding light on how variations in dimensions can influence the ultimate bending moment. Moreover, the study scrutinizes the effect of initial imperfections, recognizing their potential to trigger structural vulnerabilities and alter load-bearing capacities. The investigation reveals significant correlations between geometrical parameters and the ultimate bending moment. Increasing the span/bay ratio from 1 to 6 results in a 70 % decrease in the ultimate bending moment with a constant initial imperfection of 100 %. In contrast, raising the b / t ratio from 35 to 70 leads to a reduction of approximately 65 % in the ultimate bending moment at an imperfection of 250 %.