The rapid expansion of offshore renewable energy installations, such as wind farms, tidal turbines, and wave energy converters, has increased concerns regarding ship collision risks. As maritime traffic intensifies, understanding the impact of vessel collisions on these structures is crucial for ensuring operational safety and structural resilience. This review thoroughly analyses ship collisions with offshore renewable structures, concentrating on risk assessment methodologies, structural response mechanisms, and mitigation strategies. Various numerical and experimental approaches for impact modelling are examined, alongside advanced materials and design innovations aimed at improving collision resistance. Furthermore, current regulatory frameworks and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI)-driven collision avoidance systems, are discussed. The review identifies key challenges and future research directions, emphasising the need for integrated monitoring systems and predictive modelling to enhance offshore energy infrastructure safety. This study provides a foundation for engineers, policymakers, and researchers to develop more resilient offshore renewable energy solutions in response to increasing maritime activity.

Repeated-impact tests were carried out on a typical stiffened panel using both a wedge-shaped ice indenter and, for comparison, a rigid steel indenter under identical conditions. The tests were performed on a drop-weight impact system under a mass-loaded configuration, and the impact force, deformation response, and failure characteristics were recorded. Numerical simulations were additionally conducted to analyze the structural response and damage evolution. Progressive permanent deformation was observed under both impact types, whereas ice impact produced stronger fluctuations and a more scattered peak-force history. The differences between the two impact modes are clarified, providing a reference for the impact-resistant design and safety assessment of ships designed for ice-covered water.

In view of the significant application potential of laser-welded sandwich panels in anti-blast performance and large-scale engineering applications, both experimental and numerical investigations were carried out on fully metallic laser-welded sandwich panels with trapezoidal corrugated cores. Specimens with two different core heights were fabricated to investigate the damage modes of the structures under near-field blast loading. Furthermore, the three-dimensional finite element model was developed and validated to further understand the dynamic response behavior of the sandwich structures subjected to blast loads. The experimental and numerical results demonstrated that the core cell exhibited unidirectional compression on one side, and this behavior became more pronounced with increasing core height. The energy absorption performance of each component of the sandwich panel can be characterized by the critical scaled standoff distance, with the front face sheet and the core cell serving as the primary contributors. Based on the variations in scaled standoff distance and the specific energy absorption of the sandwich panel, the blast loading regime can be divided into three distinct areas: dangerous zone with damage area exceeding 4.51 x 104 mm2, dynamic zone, and safe zone with damage area less than 1.35 x 104 mm2. Furthermore, increasing the core height to transform the sandwich panel into a softspring type configuration can also effectively enhance the anti-blast performance under near-field explosive loading. Arranging outer stiffeners perpendicular to the hypotenuses of the core cells in the central blast-affected region can significantly enhance the local structural strength.

Hydrodynamic actions on ships may excite hull-girder whipping and generate short-duration global dynamic bending effects in the structure. To investigate the dynamic ultimate bearing capacity of box girders under such hydrodynamically induced whipping-type dynamic bending loads, a simplified box-girder structural segment is studied in this paper. A nonlinear dynamic finite element model is established under the combined action of hydrostatic pressure and equivalent whipping-type dynamic bending loads. Instead of directly applying localized slamming pressure, opposite rotational velocities with equal magnitudes are prescribed at the end reference points to equivalently represent the global bending response associated with whipping. This treatment allows the load-carrying characteristics and failure behavior of the box girder under transient dynamic bending to be examined. Geometric nonlinearity, material nonlinearity, the Cowper–Symonds strain-rate effect, and initial geometric imperfections are considered in the model. Stochastic finite element analysis and Monte Carlo simulation are further used to evaluate the influence of the randomness of Young’s modulus and loading strain rate on the probability distribution of the dynamic ultimate bearing capacity and structural reliability. The results show that the dynamic ultimate bearing capacity of the box girder increases with increasing strain rate, while its sensitivity to the strain rate decreases markedly when the strain rate exceeds 2.306 s−1. A larger initial geometric imperfection amplitude leads to a more evident reduction in the ultimate capacity. The reliability analysis shows that an increase in the mean load effect significantly increases the failure probability; when the mean load effect is lower than the mean ultimate bending moment, an increase in the load standard deviation reduces structural reliability. This study provides a fundamental numerical reference for predicting the dynamic ultimate bearing capacity and conducting probabilistic safety assessment of box-girder structures subjected to whipping-type global dynamic bending.

With the expansion of offshore wind farms into deeper waters, the increased density and number of turbines have elevated the collision risk between ships and offshore wind turbines. Traditional risk assessment methods, based on historical data and expert judgment, struggle to address the multi-source uncertainties involved. This study develops an integrated probability-consequence assessment framework for ship-offshore wind turbine collisions under multi-source uncertainty. A three-layer risk model incorporating human, ship-related, and environmental factors is developed using accident statistics and expert elicitation. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is employed to quantify the weights and occurrence probabilities of basic events, which are then used as prior probabilities in a Bayesian Network (BN) to estimate collision probability and identify key risk factors. Collision scenarios are simulated using an added-mass approach with an explicit dynamic finite element model of a jackettype offshore wind turbine impacted by a 10,000 DWT bulk carrier. Results indicate an annual collision probability of 2.626 & times; 10-3 year- 1 in the study area, with untimely lookout, navigation equipment failure, and high traffic density as the main contributors. The proposed framework provides engineering-relevant support for offshore wind farm risk control, traffic management, and collision-resistant design.

Shaped charges are important in marine engineering, yet the effects of external media and liner geometry on jet formation and penetration remain unclear. This study combines experiments and simulations to systematically investigate jet mechanisms and penetration in water, oil, and air. The work highlights how detonation-wave reflection, transmission, and superposition at medium interfaces influence jet formation, establishes a mapping between jet velocity segments and the liner’s initial position, and proposes a segment-based method to quantify penetration contribution. Results show that the ambient-medium effect is controlled by the impedance ratio: higher impedance increases jet velocity, effective mass fraction, penetration depth, and kinetic energy, while reducing perforation diameter. Increasing liner wall thickness lowers jet-tip velocity, effective length and mass fractions, penetration depth, and kinetic energy, but enlarges perforation diameter. Decreasing the liner cone angle increases the maximum jet-tip velocity but reduces the effective-segment length fraction; effective mass and total kinetic energy vary non-monotonically with cone angle, peaking near 55°, while both perforation diameter and penetration depth decrease as the cone angle increases.

This study experimentally and numerically investigates the dynamic responses of AA6061-T6 aluminum alloy structures with different welding configurations under impact loading. Material tests are conducted to obtain mechanical properties of welding-affected regions, and detailed numerical inputs incorporating dynamic parameters are provided. Three different specimens are designed based on a 42 m aluminum passenger catamaran, and the impact responses of unwelded and welded aluminum structures are compared and analyzed. Finite element simulations of the impact tests are performed, and constitutive models with strain rate and thermal softening effects are developed. By comparison of the experimental and numerical results, numerical techniques developed in the present study are validated, and the influence of weld configuration on damage characteristics and energy absorption is revealed. Finally, the evolution of strain rate and temperature in failed elements is examined under varying impact energy levels to further elucidate the dynamic characteristics of welded aluminum plates under impact loads.

This paper investigates the blast responses and energy absorption mechanisms of hybrid sandwich panels and their constituent monolithic structures by experimental and numerical methods. Air blast tests are performed on three structural configurations, including Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) panels, metallic corrugated sandwich panels, and TPU filled hybrid sandwich panels. Numerical simulations are then carried out, with detailed constitutive models and fracture models for the different material components. A comparison between test and simulations is performed regarding the damage modes and out-of-plane deformation profiles, and the discussion is conducted regarding energy absorption characteristics under different blast scenarios. The results indicate that the hybrid sandwich panel fundamentally transforms the blast response from localized failure to global deformation, and a pronounced synergistic energy absorption effect can be observed. The interaction between the metallic corrugated plates and the TPU filler promotes efficient energy redistribution and dissipation, thereby reducing the energy transmitted to the back face sheet and maintaining the structural integrity under severe blast loading.

As passenger-comfort requirements in the cruise industry continue to rise, lightweight, high-strength sandwich panels with enhanced acoustic performance have attracted considerable attention. In this study, a C-shaped sandwich panel (C-SSP) is proposed to improve the cabin sound-insulation characteristics of cruise ships. The conventional stiffened plate is replaced with the C-SSP under an equal-mass constraint, and the superiority of the new configuration is demonstrated through comparative analysis. A theoretical sound-insulation model for the CSSP is developed by combining the space-harmonic method with the principle of virtual work; its predictions show good agreement with numerical simulations, confirming the model's validity. Sensitivity analyses reveal that the elastic modulus of the face sheets and a moderate panel spacing exert the greatest influence on the cabin's acoustic performance. Moreover, the sound-transmission loss increases as the stiffener spacing and stiffener thickness decrease. To assess ship-scale applicability, a hybrid FE-SEA (finite element-statistical energy analysis) model of a cruise-ship cabin is built in VA One, and the feasibility of substituting the original deck with C-SSPs is investigated. Overall, the C-SSP achieves an improved balance between structural mass and acoustic insulation, offering a practical solution for next-generation cruise-cabin design.

Applying the albatross’s flight strategy of harvesting energy from gradient wind fields to glide thousands of miles is one of the critical approaches to overcoming endurance limitations in aircraft. Current research on albatross soaring strategies primarily focuses on theoretical analyses of gliding mechanisms and trajectory optimization, with conventional aircraft configurations being used and minimal exploration of controllability. By integrating the albatross’s morphological characteristics and flight strategies, a bio-inspired aircraft was designed with albatross-like geometry, aerodynamic configuration, and control methods. The bio-inspired aircraft achieves a lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) 1.08 times higher than trapezoidal-wing aircraft during cruise, with a maximum L/D of 1.21 times under high-angle-of-attack conditions. Wingtip morphing reduces drag by up to 12

A rapid prediction method for six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) ice-floe motion responses is proposed in ship–ice collision scenarios based on a time-embedded Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory network (Bi-LSTM). Irregular ice-floe geometries are simplified using an equivalent elliptical-cylinder representation, and a series of plate–ice collision simulations are performed in LS-DYNA to obtain 6-DOF velocity time-history data for training the neural network. A temporal-alignment composite loss function combining weighted Huber loss and curvature-alignment loss is introduced to improve prediction accuracy and motion-curve fidelity. A Unity3D-based visual simulation framework is established, into which the trained Bi-LSTM model is embedded to realize real-time motion prediction and visualization. The predicted velocity curves show good agreement with the finite-element simulation results, and the main prediction errors of all test-set velocity components remain within 0.1. These results indicate that the proposed method provides an efficient and feasible approach for real-time visualization and rapid assessment of ship–ice interaction.

Weak oceanic density stratification can generate internal waves under external perturbations. Oscillating bubbles, a perturbation source, can induce notable internal waves; however, their generation mechanisms and evolution characteristics remain unclear. Therefore, to numerically investigate the interaction between an oscillating bubble and a weakly density-stratified fluid, a multi-material Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) model coupling both is established assuming a two-layer model. Meanwhile, a novel experimental method is proposed to investigate bubble dynamics in density-stratified fluids for model validation, with both results agreeing well. Based on this model, bubble morphological evolution, jet formation, migration, interfacial liquid column development and collapse, and internal wave generation and propagation are analyzed in detail, revealing the physical mechanism by which oscillating bubbles induce internal waves. Results indicate that in a weakly stratified environment, the pressure gradient still dominates upward bubble jet generation. The jet and subsequent migration trigger the interfacial liquid column. Vertical shear generated during liquid column collapse subsequently excites longer-lasting internal waves. Furthermore, the Atwood number's effects on bubble radius increment, jet velocity, the area and potential energy of the interfacial liquid column, and internal wave height and period are determined. These findings provide theoretical and technical support for understanding ocean internal wave characteristics.

The rapid expansion of offshore wind farms into busy shipping corridors has significantly elevated the risk of vessel-turbine collisions. Existing probabilistic risk models, developed mainly for Northern European waters, rely on simplified traffic assumptions and fail to exploit the spatiotemporal information in AIS data, rendering them inadequate for non-European offshore environments. This study proposes an AIS data-driven probabilistic framework that extends and improves the classical SSPA drift collision model and Mujeeb powered collision model in both model structure and parameter calibration. Structurally, anchor failure, position-dependent repair failure, and rescue failure probabilities are added to the drift collision chain, and the powered collision model is adapted with vessel-type-specific trajectory analysis and a minimum safe distance cross-section. Key parameters such as vessel type distributions, lateral deviation, and course angle are calibrated directly from high-resolution AIS trajectories. The results show that powered collision trajectory probabilities in customary routes reach 2.8 vessels/year, approximately 70 times higher than in regulated channels (0.04 vessels/year). For drift collision, the annual trajectory probability across six channels reaches 1.996 vessels/year, with the channel nearest to the wind farm exhibiting the highest risk (1.593 vessels/year), offering direct implications for wind farm siting and maritime traffic management.

Non-parallel side-by-side ship interaction can generate strongly asymmetric and nonlinear hydrodynamic responses. This study investigates the effects of berthing angle, water depth, and lateral spacing on the surge force, sway force, and yaw moment of a KVLCC2 and an Aframax, and evaluates response-specific Kriging models within three conditional parameter groups: an angle group (CaseA), an angle–depth group (CaseH), and an angle–spacing group (CaseY). An available unsteady RANS–VOF response database with overset meshes was organized into 40 training samples and 10 held-out evaluation samples. Six single-output Kriging models were constructed for each group, giving 18 models in total, and were assessed using leave-one-out cross-validation and held-out prediction metrics. The three legacy CFD campaigns use different response-extraction targets: signed peak responses in CaseA, instantaneous responses at t=10 s in CaseH, and instantaneous responses at t=7 s in CaseY. Therefore, the groups are evaluated independently and cross-group accuracy comparisons are treated as descriptive rather than strictly like-for-like. CaseA shows the most consistent predictive performance (held-out R² approximately 0.96–1.00), whereas in CaseH only the Aframax surge force is reliable (R² approximately 1.00) and in CaseY the KVLCC2 surge force shows reasonable agreement (R² approximately 0.89), with several other responses producing negative R². The investigated depth range corresponds to moderate-to-large depth-to-draft ratios rather than classical shallow water, so the water-depth results are interpreted as finite-depth sensitivity within the numerical setup. The results demonstrate that Kriging reliability is both parameter-group-specific and response-specific, and model use should be restricted to validated responses within the sampled conditional domains.

This study experimentally and numerically investigates the damage characteristics of AA6061-T6 aluminium stiffened plates subjected to impact loading. Both quasi-static and drop-weight impact tests are performed on stiffened plates, and the impact positions are designed in the vicinity of the weld seam to reveal the damage characteristics of weld-induced softening zones. Structural responses under different impact velocities are analysed and compared, and the dynamic effects are assessed through an analysis of impact force responses and damage shapes. Numerical simulations are then carried out, incorporating anisotropic mechanical properties, strain rate effects, and welding-induced softening in the material modelling. The results indicate that both strain rate effects and material anisotropy have only a limited influence on the global impact responses and damage characteristics of the investigated aluminium stiffened plates. In contrast, detailed weld softening modelling significantly improves the accuracy of numerical predictions when impact occurs near the weld seam, whereas the one-inch rule approach may lead to notable inaccuracies. The findings provide insight into impact-induced damage mechanisms in welded aluminium structures and offer guidance for the reliable assessment and design of aluminium alloy ship structures.

Abstract In order to solve the safety problem of equipment fastening during the transit of the mother ship, the scale model test technology of the shipborne equipment fastening system is studied in this paper. This paper designed and carried out scaling tests of equipment safety fastening under different sea conditions and various motion states (single-freedom and multi-freedom motion), revealed the changing rules of equipment safety fastening loads, formed the analysis and evaluation techniques of equipment fastening methods, and the research results can provide guidance methods for the design of phase relation fastening equipment.

Experimental studies were conducted on two high-strength steel plate-frame structures with different truss spacings under various impact velocities to investigate the dynamic mechanical properties of hull plate-frame structures under drop weight impact. The results showed that decreasing the main beam spacing can effectively increase the structural stiffness, reduce the maximum deformation, and increase the damage range. Furthermore, to simulate the impact tests accurately, static and dynamic tensile tests at different strain rates were carried out, and the Cowper-Symonds model parameters were fitted via experimental data. The material properties obtained from the tensile tests were used as inputs for numerical simulations with the numerical results coincide with the experimental results. A systematic analysis and discussion were conducted on the effects of truss spacing and truss width on the dynamic response of the reinforced plates, and an optimal range for the ratio of truss spacing to truss width was proposed. In addition, a mesh size sensitivity analysis for ship hull plate frame collision simulations was performed. The applicability of the EPS, MMC, and RTCL failure criteria in the simulation of plate-frame structures was investigated via finite element simulations of falling weight impact tests. The research findings provide a reference for ship hull structure design and resilience assessment.

With the increasing demand for cabin comfort in the cruise industry, noise control has become a key research focus. Traditional sound insulation structures can no longer meet the required soundproofing standards. With their unique advantages, lightweight and high-strength sandwich panels are gaining significant attention in cruise ship design. Therefore, this paper designs a C-type sandwich panel structure based on the principle of equivalent mass substitution and uses ANSYS Workbench to analyze and verify its static performance. A sound insulation theoretical model is also established by using the space-harmonic expansion method and the principle of virtual work, from which the sound insulation expression is derived. The paper also systematically discusses the soundproofing performance of the sandwich panel under different structural parameters. The results show that the theoretical model is in good agreement with the simulation data within a certain frequency range, proving the model’s validity. Furthermore, the elastic modulus and thickness of the C-type sandwich panel have a significant impact on the structure’s sound insulation performance, providing an important reference for future cabin soundproofing design in cruise ships.

With transportation's rapid growth, ship-bridge collisions occur frequently, causing substantial losses. Ship-bridge anticollision facilities should not only protect the structural integrity of bridges but also minimise ship damage. This paper designs a novel ship-bridge anti-collision device based on a trapezoidal foam-filled composite sandwich structure. Using the finite element software LS-DYNA, a ship-anti-collision device-bridge collision model was established, taking into account pile-water-soil coupling. The study investigates the selection of box materials, filling materials and wall thickness for the novel anti-collision device. By analysing the damage characteristics of the ship, anti-collision device and pier under typical collision loads, the optimal material properties were determined. The impact resistance of the optimised device was evaluated under different ship speeds and collision angles, demonstrating that the novel anti-collision device exhibits excellent buffering and energy absorption, effectively reducing the peak collision force, extending the collision duration and reducing damage to the ship's bow structure.