Course syllabus for Marine structural engineering

After completion of this course, the student should be able to:

• identify and discuss which loads a marine structure is subjected to,
• use and interpret classification rules in order to design lightweight structures according to given design criteria, and with regard to sustainability and ethical considerations under interrogation of IMO - the International Maritime Organization: safety for humans, the environment and property,
• carry out full strength analyses (by means of limit state design criteria) of ship and offshore structures,
• understand and discuss the meaning of the effective flange concept, 
• identify and discuss the functionality of the structural elements in a ship structure, both from a global and local perspective,
• understand the functionality and suggest modifications of a ship or offshore design in order fulfill design criteria,
• carry out a structure stability and buckling analysis of a stiffened thin-walled lightweight structure, and
• critically evaluate and compare various design concepts with respect to material, geometry and structural aspects.

The course is divided into four parts: design rules and aspects of marine structural engineering, engineering beam theory applied on marine structure designs, the effective flange concept, and structural stability of beams and stiffened shell structures. Examples of fatigue design principles are discussed continuously during the course together with some examples.

• Design rules and aspects of marine structural engineering:
• Examples and categorization of various types of marine structure designs.
• Identification and categorization of loads that act on marine structures, such as wind, wave and impact loads.
• Study of design rules according to classification societies and IMO's view on ethics and sustainable design (safety for humans, the environment and property).
• Limit states designs.
• Engineering beam theory applied on marine structure designs:
• Normal stresses/strains due to axial loading conditions.
• Normal stresses/strains due to bending (Bernoulli's hypothesis, Navier's theory).
• Normal stresses/strains due to torsion (Vlasov theory).
• Shear stresses/strains due to bending.
• Shear stresses/strains due to torsion (Saint-Venant, Vlasov and mixed torsion theory).
• The effective flange concept:
• Objective with the concept and motivation to why it must be considered.
• Calculations using the summation method.
• Calculations using the elementary case method.
• Structural stability of beams and stiffened shell structures:
• Introduction to ultimate strength analysis.
• Overview of methods useful for structural stability analysis.
• Structural stability of beam structures (Euler theory, geometric imperfections, influence from lateral loads, etc).
• Analysis of large-scale realistic stiffened shell structures with regard to their stability characteristics and progressive collapse.

The course has three compulsory assignments that have clear connections to realistic cases and real problems.

J.W. Ringsberg (2016). Marine Structural Engineering. Division of Marine Technology, Department of Shipping and Marine Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.

O. Hughes and J.K. Paik (2010). Ship Structural Analysis and Design. The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.