Enhancing Crashworthiness of Aluminum Fishing Boats with Stiffener Plate Configurations

Collisions involving fishing vessels pose a significant threat to maritime safety, often resulting in structural damage, loss of life, and environmental harm.This study investigates the crashworthiness of aluminum fishing boat hulls with the integration of stiffener plates to enhance structural resistance during collisions.Crashworthiness, defined as the ability of a structure to absorb impact energy, was analyzed through finite element simulations using ANSYS software.This study investigates the crashworthiness of aluminum fishing boat hulls with stiffeners to enhance structural resistance during collisions.The simulations modeled collision scenarios at different speeds (20 and 30 knots), with various stiffener configurations.The results showed that the inclusion of stiffeners increased energy absorption (EA) by up to 83%, underscoring the importance of stiffener design.These findings highlight a potential reduction in collision damage and improvements in maritime safety, offering practical guidelines for safer fishing vessel construction.Nonlinear structural responses were observed under high-speed impacts, underscoring the importance of optimized stiffener design.This research provides critical insights into the design of safer fishing vessels, offering practical recommendations for improving maritime safety and minimizing collision-related risks.Future work will include experimental validation of the simulation results to ensure the reliability of these findings for real-world applications.