A Study on the Evolution Law of the Early Nonlinear Plastic Shock Response of a Ship Subjected to Underwater Explosions

Early-stage dynamic responses of naval structures under underwater explosion shock loads exhibit high-frequency, intense amplitude fluctuations and short durations, serving as critical factors for the development of plastic deformation and other damage characteristics. These structural dynamics demonstrate prominent nonlinear and non-stationary features. This study focuses on the nonlinear evolutionary patterns of early-stage plastic shock responses in underwater explosion-impacted ship structures. Utilizing phase space reconstruction, unimodal mapping, and symbolic dynamics theory, we analyze the nonlinear and non-stationary characteristics along with their evolutionary patterns in experimental data. First, scaled model experiments under varying shock factors were conducted based on a stiffened cylindrical shell prototype, investigating the spatiotemporal evolution of nonlinear and non-stationary dynamic responses under different shock loads while characterizing their uncertainty features. Second, model tests were performed on deck-type cabin structures and plate frameworks derived from a naval vessel’s deck prototype, further analyzing the evolutionary patterns of early-stage plastic dynamic responses and verifying the method’s effectiveness and universality. Research findings indicate that (1) early-stage plastic shock responses of ships under underwater explosions exhibit multiple dynamical behaviors including chaotic motion, periodic motion, and quasi-periodic motion, and (2) during the initial plastic phase, orbital parameters approximate 0.8, providing guidance for test condition setup and initial parameter selection in underwater explosion experiments on naval structures.