Reliability analysis of a ship hull in composite material

A simple and effective analytical method for ultimate longitudinal strength calculation and reliability analysis of a ship’s hull in composite materials is presented. The ultimate strength formula of composite stiffened panel is derived from composite column theory. Deck and ship bottom structures are modelled as assemblies of stiffened panels. Then, progressive collapse analysis is applied to calculate the longitudinal ultimate strength of ship hull in composite materials. The response-surface method and the first order reliability method are combined to calculate the safety index and failure probability. Moreover, the sensitivity of each variable that has effect on the reliability is discussed.