Solid bulk cargo instability during marine transport

Abstract Solid bulk cargo liquefaction has been prominent on the agenda for shipping in recent years, which resulted in a cargo shift and loss of stability, causing the loss of many lives. When the cargo is subject to cyclic forces, such as the rolling movement of the ship, the cargo shift will contribute an extra moment on the ship hold and may result in ship capsizes. In the paper, a scaled model of a Handy size vessel is used to identify the key parameters that trigger cargo instability and calibrate the model parameter. A liquefaction model is presented to model the simple shear, cyclic shear character and the liquefaction during sloshing of the cargo. This numerical approach can provide a means to predict the ship stability and evaluate the potential safety hazards during marine transport of solid bulk cargo.