Behaviour of ring-stiffened cylindrical members damaged by local denting

Abstract This paper presents a summary of research undertaken by the authors as part of a coordinated programme on buckling of offshore members carried out in the 1980s at Imperial College in London, the University of Glasgow, University College in London and ARE in Dunfermline. This particular paper relates to experimental and analytical work on the residual strength, under axial compression, of ring-stiffened cylindrical members subjected to local dent damage of the type that would result from impact from berthing vessels. Nine experiments were conducted in which local denting was induced by the application of lateral load and the post-denting axial capacity established by subsequent testing under axial compression. Finite element analyses have been carried out to attempt to reproduce both the denting and the subsequent axial testing by use of a fully non-linear package capable of predicting peak load and post-peak behaviour. Subsequently the package has been used to carry out a limited parametric investigation to identify the sensitivity of collapse strength to dent size and the geometrical parameters.