Finite element simulation of barge impact into a rigid wall

The forces and locations of inland barge impacts currently control the design specifications for lock walls. This has resulted in a significant increase in the final construction costs of these walls. Thus, the loads from barge impacts on lock approach walls become an important evaluation and/or design factor when working toward reducing construction costs. Many approaches have been developed in order to obtain these impact loads. In general, collision mechanics for floating units is classified into, external mechanics and internal mechanics. In external mechanics, analytical approaches are used to determine the absorbed energy acting on the vessel from the collision, while in internal mechanics analytical approaches are used to determine the ability of the ship’s structure to withstand the absorbed energy. Due to the difficulty and the highly expected cost to perform model testing and impact data for validation, finite element simulation provides an alternative tool for physical validation. In this study, a simulation of barge impact to a rigid wall is presented using the explicit nonlinear finite element code LS-DYNA3D. A conventional fine mesh finite element barge model is created. Impact results are obtained at two different speeds in order to show the consequence of barge and wall damage.