Non-linear FEM analysis for ship panels under thermal loads

Abstract

During the past decade, welding remained the main technological procedure for joining steel components in shipbuilding industry. Though it has great benefits, welding is an aggressive process that introduces high stress and strains in the joined materials, causing distortion. Finite element method is an important instrument for predicting how structures are behaving under thermal loads. This paper is focused on studying the behaviour of small thickness ship panels, under straightening treatment, by performing thermal-structural-elastic-plastic analysis in Femap/NX Nastran. The proposed panel is tested under three different thermal loadings in order to study stresses and residual distortion.