Structural Stability

Once in a while you may read or hear of a ship "breaking her back" while laboring in a heavy sea, or through suffering structural damage in running aground, or perhaps in a collision. The sea exerts immense pressures upon a ship's structure especially if the ship is long anil narTow. As the length of ships has extended more and more during the past ferv decades (particularly in the case of crude carriers, the largest of rvhich is 1500 feet, or 458 meters, long) - so the danger of structural stress has increased ctuite ti-'rsiderably. The three most common stress tactors are hogging, sagging and shearing. If one or more of these iactors is exerted on a ship with iradequate strength in her structure. lcr baci: lr'ilI be broken. Si:triiarly, a collision or grouncling fortorved by nrrrnmallino From heaw seas cotrlcl :-*.^".^'....^D iractui e the keel of a ship. The lieel is the lorvest, r-(lnliiluous line of steel plates crtending the rvhole length of a ship. Fixed to the keel are the siem. the stern post, and the ribs r,'r frarnes. 1'ogether the.v form the r::\p's strongest single rnernber. In .,ost ships, trvo adclitional keels rno\',-r as bilge keels - are trtted to :ne hLrll on either side of the central ;eei to assist the ship's launch.,1'hey'
also help to mininrize rolling in a heav1,'
sea. gyroscope
A naval architect must guard against all kinds ofstresses when designing the structural stability of a ship.

Hoggirtg Lengthrvise, or longitudinal, strength is vital in order to withstand the stress that occurs when the midsection of a ship is supported by the crest

of a wave-

Sag4ing \\hen lhe borvs and stern of a ship are supported bv wave crests, ihe center section is lefl unsupported. It can ]ead io a vessel breaking uir
.rmirlrhins rnd qinl^'inu

5'hcaiilgAsthelcncthsoishipsint--rersc, so[heclesign.r'sproblrmsmultiplr'. Verry'lorLg tankcrs and bulk curriers are espcci:rll1- sLrsccptrble to oceln and
r'.ar e conditions thlt can produce the cifcct ofbeing sLrpirorted by three *'ave crests (as arros'eci).

lJelorv. Strbilizcrs:rct like tlrrs orr ci[hcr side of tlrc sliip to modify the rollinq nrcitir,n. 'l'ircl'are *ithdr;rrvn into the huil of the ship rrhen not at sca.

A vessel rolls because the water

level is higher on one side than on :he other: if these levels van, greatll' and coincide ivith the ship's natural roll, the result can be quite r-iolent.
Rolting can be partrallv arrested b1' iltting fin stabilizers. Other special roll dampers or anti-rotling devices are titted to ships, especiallv to those that carry passengers.
stabilizer

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