Ultimate Strength Test of Typical Joint of Composite Ship

Abstract Compared to metal materials, composite materials possess favorable properties such as high strength-to-weight ratio and high stiffness-to-weight ratio. They allow for a reduction in the overall weight of a ship while still meeting the requirements of ship design, aligning with the principles of energy efficiency and emission reduction. However, due to the anisotropy of composite materials, some components of composite ships are easily damaged in complex marine environment, which affects the safety and reliability of the entire hull structure. To understand the ultimate load-carrying capacity of vulnerable structures of composite ships under the influence of wave loads, structural response calculations for the target ship was conducted based on the design wave method in this paper. In cases where the target ship experiences overall longitudinal bending, areas with high compressive stress were identified. After screening, the box bracket structure at the joint of deck and transverse bulkhead was selected as the research object, and a typical joint specimen composed of transverse bulkhead, deck, cap girder and bracket was designed. Standard specimens of 0° uniorientational layering and 90° uniorientational layering were designed according to the relevant specifications, and tensile and compression tests were carried out, and the stiffness and strength data of the materials were measured for numerical analysis. In order to carry out the model test, the compressive ultimate strength test of typical joint specimens was carried out, and the displacement-loading force curve during the test was recorded. A shell element model was used to simulate the compression process of the ship typical joint specimen based on the 2D Hashin criterion as the failure criterion. By comparing numerical simulation results with experimental data, the accuracy of the numerical simulation method was validated.