Potential assessment of cargo liquefaction based on an UBC3D-PLM model

Fluidization of fine particle cargoes, resulting in cargo shift and loss of stability, has caused the loss of many lives in numerous marine casualties over the past decades. Since the dangers of cargo fluidization have long been known to the shipping industry, the question of why the phenomenon is resurfacing now would be a legitimate one. With this in mind, an UBC3D-PLM model based on FEM theory in the commercial software PLAXIS is presented in this paper to consider soil DSS (Direct Simple Shear) test to verify the model. To assess the cargo fluidization potential, an evaluating method is presented in the paper considering cargo fluidization. Shaking table tests with different amplitude, frequency and initial degree of saturation of cargos were studied to predict time-domain characteristics. This method in the paper could be feasibly used as a reference and possibly support a suitable regulatory framework to the fluidization analysis of ship stability.