Abstract:
Historically, surface combatants have been vulnerable to close-proximity underwater explosions, necessitating costly, time-consuming, and hazardous shock trial tests for new ship classes to ensure mission-essential equipment survivability. This paper introduces the concept of creating a virtual shock environment through computer modeling of ship structures and surrounding fluid as a valuable, safer alternative to these physical tests. The research specifically investigates the accuracy of shock simulations by analyzing the shock trials conducted on the USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81) in 2001. It simulates all three explosions the DDG 81 was subjected to and compares the resulting predictions with actual shock trial data, aiming to validate the efficacy of the simulation approach.
