• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.213-221
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• 2023

The demand for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers and LNG-fueled ships has significantly increased in recent years due to the sulfur-oxide emission regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The main goal of this paper is to introduce the process for the Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) of IMO independent type-B cargo tanks made from 9% nickel alloy. A methodology proposed by the British Standard was used to conduct ECA for any structure with initial flaws. Based on this standard, a Matlab code was developed to perform ECA. Coarse mesh Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed on an independent type-B LNG cargo tank with a capacity of 15,000 m³. The location with the highest development of maximum principal stress was identified at the bottom of the cargo tank. Fine mesh FEA was performed to obtain the stress range required for ECA. The dynamic cargo tank loads used for FEA were determined using some ship rules presented by Det Norske Veritas. As a result of performing a 20-year long-term crack propagation analysis with a semi-elliptical surface crack, the fracture-to-yield ratio exceeded the Fracture Assessment Line (FAL) and some structural reinforcement was necessary. Performing a 15-day short-term crack propagation analysis, the fracture-to-yield ratio remained within the FAL, and no significant LNG leaks were expected. This paper is believed to provide a guide for performing ECA of LNG cargo tanks in the future by providing the basic theory and application sample necessary to perform ECA.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.393-405
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• 2017

This paper deals with the buckling strength of the skirt structure in the spherical LNG carriers. The spherical cargo tank systems consist of spherical tank, skirt, tank cover, pump tower, etc. The skirt supports the spherical cargo tank and is connected with ship hull structure. It is designed to act as a thermal brake between the tank and the hull structure by reducing the thermal conduction from the tank to the supporting structure. It is built up of three parts, upper aluminum part, middle stainless steel part and lower carbon steel part. The 150K spherical LNG carrier was designed and carried out the strength verification under Classification Societies Rule. The design loads due to acceleration, thermal distribution, self-weight and cargo weight were estimated considering requirements of the Class Rule and numerical simulation analyses. Based on the obtained design loads and experienced project data, the initial structure scantling was carried out. To verify the structural integrity, theoretical and numerical analyses were carried out and strength was evaluated aspect of buckling capacity. The results by LR and DNV design code are shown and discussed.

• Special Issue of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.22-30
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• 2005

Sloshing loads, produced by the violent liquid free-surface motions inside the cargo tank have become an important design parameter in ship building industry since there have been demands for the increased sizes of the cargo containment system of LNG carriers. In this study, sloshing impact pressure acting on the shell of the spherical cargo tank of an LNG carrier as well as dynamic pressure and flow behavior around the pump tower located at the center of the tank have been calculated. Comparative numerical sloshing simulations for a spherical LNG tank using 2-D LR.FLUIDS which is based on the finite difference method and 3-D MSC.DYTRAN which is capable of calculating nonlinear fluid-structure interaction have been carried out. A method of calculating sloshing-induced dynamic loads and the subsequent structural strength analysis for pump tower of a spherical LNG carrier using MSC. DYTRAN and MSC.NASTRAN have been presented.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.108-118
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• 1997

For the LNG carrier, the calculation of temperature distribution of cargo tank is necessary to select the steel grade and to estimate the boil-off rate(BOR). Since the previous studies with 2-D and 3-D method ignored the effect of several primary members, the effect was included by applying the better equations for the convection coefficient that is the most important item in this kind of study. After evaluating the program considering the primary members, the results are reflected to the design of the concerned LNG carrier.

• Special Issue of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.89-93
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• 2007

The Boil-off gas (BOG) generation during the voyage is inevitable since Natural Gas (NG) in normally liquefied below -160 degree C in atmosphere condition and small heat ingress due to relatively hot outside keeps evaporating continuously. The one of major issue in LNG carriers is to handle generated BOG from cargo tank. The generated BOG affects to increase the cargo tank pressure and Gas Management System (GMS) for LNG carriers is closely related to cargo tank pressure maintenance. Economically, BOG is generally used as fuel in LNG carrier. Newly developed GMS for LNG carrier in boiler propulsion system, VaCo System, not only accomplish automatic control in GMS but also ensure safer operation.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.537-553
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• 2016

This paper addresses the safety of two-row tank design by performing the extensive sloshing model tests. Owing to the uncertainties entangled with the scale law transforming the measured impact pressure up to the full scale one, so called comparative approach was taken to derive the design sloshing load. The target design vessel was chosen as 230 K LNG-FPSO with tow-row tank arrangement and the reference vessel as 138 K conventional LNG carrier, which has past track record without any significant failure due to sloshing loads. Starting with the site-specific metocean data, ship motion analysis was carried out with 3D diffraction-radiation program, then the obtained ship motion data was used as 6DOF tank excitation for subsequent sloshing model test and analysis. The statistical analysis was carried out with obtained peak data and the long-term sloshing load was determined out of it. It was concluded that the normalized sloshing impact pressure on 230 K LNG-FPSO with two-row tank arrangement is higher than that of convectional LNG carrier, hence requires the use of reinforced cargo containment system for the sake of failure-free operation without filling limitation.

• Journal of Advanced Research in Ocean Engineering
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.112-124
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• 2017

As an LNG carrier preserves and transports liquefied natural gas under minus $163^{\circ}C$, the cargo tank has to have sufficient hull strength against not only the wave loads but also against loads caused by loading and unloading and thermal expansion to keep the LNG safely. The main insulation types for a CCS are No.96 and Mark III from GTT for the membrane LNG carrier. Particularly, the invar membrane plate in No.96 is very thin and its connections could experience high local stresses owing to such dynamic loads. Therefore, it should be verified whether those connections have sufficient fatigue lives for the purpose of operation and maintenance. This research aims at performing fatigue analysis with 0.1 fatigue damage criteria for 40 years of design life to support new membrane CCS development using proper S-N curves and the associated finite element modeling technique for each connection and then propose a reasonable design methodology.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.361-367
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• 2017

A membrane type LNG cargo tank is equipped with a pump tower and a liquid dome for loading and unloading of LNG. However, the membrane running continuously on the tank wall to prevent leakage of LNG is interrupted by the liquid dome, hence care should be taken in the design of liquid dome and its substructures. In case of GTT NO96 membrane type cargo containment system, chair structure is arranged along the periphery of the liquid dome targeting to support the membrane which is exposed to the both hull girder and thermal load. This paper proposes a new and simple chair structure, which outperforms traditional design from productivity point of view maintaining same level of structural safety. Strength assessment on the new design was performed to guarantee the structural safety of the new design, which includes strength, fatigue and crack propagation analysis.

• Journal of Advanced Research in Ocean Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2017

This paper presents a numerical and experimental study of sloshing loads on liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels. Conventional LNG carriers with membrane-type cargo systems have filling restrictions from 10% to 70% of tank height. The main reason for such restrictions is high sloshing loads around these filling depths. However, intermediate filling depths cannot be avoided for most LNG vessels except the LNG carrier. This study attempted to design a membrane-type LNG tank with a modified lower-chamfer shape that allows all filling operations. First, numerical sloshing analysis was carried out to find an efficient height of the lower-chamfer that can reduce sloshing pressure at partially filled conditions. The numerical sloshing analysis program SHI-SLOSH was used for numerical simulation; this program is based on SOLA-VOF. The effectiveness of the newly designed tanks was validated by 1:50-scale three-dimensional tank tests. A total of three different tanks were tested: a conventional tank and two modified tanks. As test conditions, various filling depths and wave periods were considered, and the same test conditions were applied to the three tanks. During the test, slosh-induced dynamic pressures were measured around the corners of the tank wall. The measured pressure data were post-processed and the pressures of the three different tanks were statistically compared in several ways. Experimental results show that the modified tanks were quite effective in reducing sloshing loads at low filling conditions. This study demonstrated the possibility of all filling operations for LNG cargo containment systems.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.529-537
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• 2021

Membrane-type hull and cargo holds have been designed and built for large ship. However, there is a growing interest in applying the same technology to small and medium-sized Liquefied natural gas(LNG) carriers to meet the recent increase in demand for LNG as an ecofriendly fuel and for expanding LNG bunkering infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to apply the IMO Type-B tank to small and medium-sized LNG carriers and verify the safety and suitability of the design. Fatigue crack propagation analysis was performed to install a partial second drip tray installed at the lower part of the LNG cargo tank by calculating the amount of leaked gas in the support structure supporting the cargo tank. First, a program for fatigue crack propagation analysis was developed, in which Paris' law and British Standard 7910 (BS 79110) were applied based on the International Code for the Construction of Equipment and Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, an international standard for LNG carriers. In addition, a surface crack propagation analysis was performed. Next, a methodology for assuming the initial through-crack size was developed to determine the size of the partial second barrier. The analysis was performed for 15 days, which is a possible return time after cracks are detected. Finally, the safety and suitability of the IMO Type-B for LNG cargo tanks required by international regulations were verified. For the accurate analysis of fatigue crack propagation, it is necessary to develop and verify the analysis procedure based on direct analysis and international regulations.