A STUDY ON THE VARIATION IN STRUCTURAL SCANTLING REQUIREMENTS AMONG VARIOUS CLASSIFICATION SOCIETIES FOR A COASTAL CARGO VESSEL

Abstract

In Bangladesh, ship design is a growing and specialized industry. This industry faces far more difficulties than other industries. Before starting a project, different classification society rules are usually followed when checking the structural requirements after settling the principal particulars. The majority of formulas are empirical. However, when the rules of different classification societies are applied to ships with identical principal particulars, with the same navigational notation, and carrying the same cargoes, the structural requirements are found to be different. In some cases, which is significant, confusing clients in many aspects of classification society requirements. Some issues can be waived when taking positive tolerance and rounding up. However, in detail, more than a simple interpolation is needed to produce a workable value to comply with the class rules and stay within the expected margin tolerance for individual and overall scantlings and section modulus. In this study, structural variations for the same project by different Classification Societies’ scantling rules requirements are investigated. Variations are found when calculating the minimum thickness for structural elements in the midship section area using the RINA, IRS, and BV rules. Their reasons for the differences are also investigated. This analysis expects it will help to make a better decision, which also helps to minimize cost.

Keywords: Structure, thickness, scantling