Bulkhead Door – Critical Evacuation States

Abstract

Abstract The article is a preliminary to a modification concept of the sliding watertight bulkhead door used on ships and vessels. Hydraulic or electro-hydraulic drives used to move these doors require complicated and extended pressure installations with large amounts of hydraulic fluid. Well-known operational drawbacks of these installations include high level of noise and possibility of various leaks in the hydraulic system. Being the first in a series, the present article describes and analyses critical states which can take place during evacuation of people through openings in the watertight bulkhead doors on seagoing ships and vessels.