On the transverse strength of ships with large deck openings

Abstract

A theoretical technique is outlined upon which the strength of container ships, and other vessels with large deck openings, might be based. Such ships require special consideration because the warping of cross sections cannot be neglected when they suffer antisymmetric distortions. In the development of the theory, a number of new results are given relating to antisymmetric vibration of a thin-walled beam of open section; these relate to the modes and to the orthogonality conditions that they satisfy. It is demonstrated that analysis of transverse strength in waves can be made to provide the information that is normally sought in inde­pendent studies of ‘seakeeping’.