Material quality effects on structural design of rudder horns for bulk carriers and tankers

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the assessment of the structural integrity of a rudder horn built of different materials and in particular, the material quality effects on the structural design of a typical rudder horn of a conventional Panama-Kamsarmax size ship in relation to IACS requirements. The minimum scantlings of the rudder horn were established and compared for different steels permitted in IACS UR S10. Furthermore, a FEA model of the rudder horn including its most critical part i.e. its connection to the hull structure was developed in order to calculate and compare stress and deflections under the IACS prescribed loading conditions. The findings suggest that the use of higher strength material may reduce substantially the fatigue life of the structure at the critical area of rudder horn to hull connection which may cause the initiation of cracking, with adverse impact to the safety of the ship and its crew.

KEYWORDS:

• Rudder horn
• finite element analysis
• bending stress
• fatigue

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

E. Boulougouris http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5730-007X