Abstract: “Evaluation of load carrying performance of damaged structures after accidents is a vital issue for safety concerns. The aim of this study is to investigate the post-accident behaviour of a deformed hatch cover, while comparing the influence of different damage modelling techniques on results and verifying capabilities of an engineering environment for this task. To achieve that, impact load due to a dropped object is analysed as the realistic damage simulation, then the deformed geometry and the residual stresses are transferred to further analyses to assess the performance of the hatch cover under the applied lateral load. The results are compared to the results of the intact structure and the conventionally damage modelled structure. Finally, this study demonstrates the importance of accurate and realistic damage modelling and it is possible to use a single engineering environment for a practical and accurate post-accident evaluation.”

Keywords: dropped object, hatch cover, damage modelling