Structural protection of ship-shaped offshore installations using hollow-section rubber fenders under high-energy side-by-side collisions

This study investigates the effectiveness of hollow-section rubber fenders in mitigating structural damage during high-energy collisions between a ship-shaped offshore installation and a shuttle tanker engaged in side-by-side offloading operations. Axial crushing tests were carried out on physical models at loading speeds ranging from quasi-static to dynamic conditions to evaluate the energy-absorption capacity of the rubber fenders, with particular attention to strain-rate effects. A finite element model of the fenders was developed and validated through comparison with the experimental data. The numerical analyses were performed using LS-DYNA, a commercial finite element analysis package. The validated model was then applied to simulate high-energy collision scenarios involving a Suezmax-class shuttle tanker and a very-large-crude-carrier (VLCC)-class offshore installation, both with and without rubber fenders. The principal novelty of this study lies in the development of a computational modelling approach capable of accurately predicting the strain-rate-dependent energy absorption behaviour of hollow-section rubber fenders under realistic collision conditions. • Experimental demonstration of the strain-rate sensitivity of hollow-section rubber fenders. • Development and validation of a strain-rate-dependent FE model of hollow-section fenders. • Improved numerical accuracy through multi-mode material combination. • Significant reduction in hull-absorbed energy with hollow-section fenders compared to no fenders. • Comparison of the effectiveness of hollow-section and pneumatic rubber fenders.