Structural analysis of a container vessel hatch cover by finite element method

This paper represents a structural analysis of hatch cover of a container vessel having a capacity of 2400 DWT using finite element method. The objective of this paper is to determine the Von Mises stress and to analyze the factor of safety for different structural members. The objective also includes reducing the steel weight by keeping the reasonable factor of safety. Firstly the hatch cover model was designed according to Germanischar Lloyd (GL) rulebook. Heaving acceleration was taken into account during load calculation. Then the structural analysis of the hatch cover model was done by the finite element analysis (FEA). In this study, meshing was done using quadrilateral shell element. The Von Mises stress was compared with the yield stress of the hatch cover material. The hatch cover model was modified several times to find the reasonable factor of safety along with lesser steel weight. The modification of modeling was done by changing the thickness and the dimensions of different structural members, including insert plate at the container shoe. This study can be applied to predict structural failure under any loading condition.