Ship Shock Trial Simulation of USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81)

Book excerpt: The USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) shock trial was conducted in May and June of 2001 off the coast of Naval Station Mayport, Florida. Because the USS Winston S. Churchill best represented the new line of Flight 11-A arleigh Burkes, it was chosen to undergo ship shock trials for its class. These trials are necessary in order to evaluate the vulnerability and survivability of the hull and the mission essential equipment in a combat shock environment. However, shock trials are very expensive, require extensive planning and coordination, and represent a potential hazard to the marine environment and its mammals. Computer modeling and simulation are showing themselves to be a plausible alternative in investigating the dynamic response of a ship under these shock trials conditions. This thesis investigates the use of computer ship and fluid modeling, coupled with underwater explosion simulation and compares it to actual shock trial data from the USS Winston S. Churchill. Of particular concern in this study is the amount of fluid that must be modeled to accurately capture the structural response of a frill ship finite element model. Four fluid meshes were constructed and used to study the ship's response to an underwater explosion. Each simulation data was analyzed to determine which mesh best represented the actual ship shock trial results.