Impact crashworthiness of a floating offshore nuclear power plant hull structure in a terrorist attack with an aircraft strike

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact crashworthiness of a floating offshore nuclear power plant hull structure in an aircraft strike; the hull has a double-sided design that includes ballasting with either sand or concrete. As a hazardous event associated with a terrorist attack, one of the unfavourable impact scenarios is adopted in which a Boeing 777 airplane strikes the hull structure at a full speed. This study examines the contribution of ballasting materials such as sand or concrete to the penetration of the striking body into the hull structure in an aircraft strike as the power plant is gravity based sitting on the seabed. The LS-DYNA nonlinear finite-element method is employed for the structural crashworthiness analysis. Details of the computational modelling and resulting insights are documented.

Automated summary

This study investigates the crashworthiness of a floating offshore nuclear power plant hull structure in an aircraft strike, analyzing the impact of ballasting materials and penetration of the striking body. LS-DYNA nonlinear finite-element method is used for structural crashworthiness analysis, resulting in valuable insights for future research and design improvements.