Spectral fatigue damage calculations has been performed on four ships in order to assess the effect that the probabilistic modeling of sea states has on the estimated fatigue life. The damage estimation method is based on the Miner- Palmgren fatigue damage formulation and a spectral approach is used to determine the necessary variances of the stress processes. Both the horizontal and vertical hull girder bending induced stress process together with the local water pressure induced stress process is taken into account. The wave scatter diagrams are applied in the calculations and their fatigue severity is assessed by analyzing the results obtained with the ten scatter diagrams and the four ships. All four ships are analyzed both in full load and ballast conditions and while traveling at both full and reduced speed. It is found that the fatigue severity of a wave scatter diagram is dependent on several parameters, some of these being the extreme wave hight extrapolated from the scatter diagram and the mean zero up-crossing period in conjunction with the ship length . Based on these three parameters and expression is derived in order to calculate one single number describing the fatigue severity of a scatter diagram with respect to a certain ship.

In this paper, a 2-dimensional novel beam element is developed and a method to replace the 3-dimensional analysis with 2-dimensional analysis is proposed. The developed novel beam element named rigid-ended beam element can consider the effect of three kinds of span points within one element, which was impossible in modeling with the ordinary beam element. Calculated results for the portal frame using the rigid-ended beam element agree with the results using membrane element. And also, the proposed simplified 3- dimensional analysis method which includes two step analysis using influence coefficients shows good accuracy. Structural analysis using the rigid-ended beam element and the simplified 3-dimensional method is revealed to have good computing efficiency due to unnecessity of the elements corresponding to the brackets and simplification of 3-dimensional analysis.

Estimation efficiencies according to different sea trial are investigated in connection with sensitivity analysis, and new trial method is proposed which can improve the estimation efficiency of hydrodynamic derivatives. MMG Equation with Kijima's formula is used for simulation. Extended Kalman Filter is chosen for estimation technique and hydrodynamic derivatives of interest is limited to 12 of those in sway and yaw equations. Esso Osaka is selected for the test ship. Sensitivity analysis and estimation results based on conventional trials show that a more sensitive derivative gives more efficient estimation result. Sensitivities of nonlinear derivatives become pronounced in the trial where steady condition lasts longer such as turning test, while sensitivities of linear derivatives gas a larger values in the trial where unsteady condition lasts longer such as 10deg-10deg zigzag test. Consequently, in new method , named S-type trial, steady and unsteady condition are combined appropriately to increase sensitivities. Linear derivatives are estimated better in S-type trial and the estimation of nonlinear derivatives is improved to extent.