The Investigation of the Initial Cracks Effect on Ship Steering Gear Towards Environmental Safety

Abstract This research aims to analyze the effect of initial cracks on the damage of ship Steering gear using the finite element method software. The study focuses on the hydraulic cylinder of the ship’s Steering gear and employs two material variations: stainless steel 316 and AISI 1045. In this research, the initial cracks vary on the outer surface of the hydraulic cylinder of the steering gear with a semi-elliptical crack shape. The simulation results show that stainless steel 316 and AISI 1045 materials exceed their ultimate tensile strength at a crack length of 12 mm. For stainless steel 316, the ultimate tensile strength is 580 MPa, while for AISI 1045, it is 585 MPa. Crack propagation analysis reveals that the crack propagation rate in the hydraulic cylinder of the Steering gear with stainless steel 316 material is faster than that of the hydraulic cylinder with AISI 1045 material. Additionally, when comparing crack sizes, the crack propagation occurs more rapidly in the cylinder model with a deeper initial crack compared to the hydraulic cylinder with a shallower initial crack.