LAUNCH AND IMPACT OF FREE-FALL LIFEBOATS .2. IMPLEMENTATION AND APPLICATIONS

There is a great interest in a practical method of predicting the behaviour of a free-fall lifeboat, when dropped from an offshore platform or from a ship, in order to assess the risk of injury to the occupants. In particular, for those environmental conditions in which full-scale experiments are very difficult, one can benefit from numerical prediction. The hydrodynamic impact of the boat at water entry is a complex problem and makes the establishment of an analytical prediction method a challenging task. This paper is the second of two articles outlining a practical method for simulating the water entry of a free-fall lifeboat. The first article (Part I: impact theory) [BOEF, W. J. C. (1992), Ocean Engng 19, 119-138] reviewed the relevant literature on hydrodynamic impact and outlined the theoretical model for the water entry of a lifeboat. This paper discusses the implementation of the lifeboat launch model and a method for evaluating the effects of impacts on the occupants. The results of a comparison with full-scale tests and of a case study are also included.