Simple Physical Models to Simulate the Behavior of Buckling-Type Marine Fenders

This paper presents a simple physical model for the numerical simulation of the behavior of buckling-type marine fenders. The proposed model is characterized by four parameters and is derived starting from similarities between the unstable behavior of marine fenders and shallow arches. In this model, the large displacements solution expressing the relationship between the model displacements and reaction force is determined in a nondimensional form, and the model parameters are calibrated to minimize residuals between real and predicted normalized reaction force–deflection curves. By considering an in-series arrangement of two elementary physical models, the approach can be also used to simulate the behavior of parallel-motion fenders. The proposed model can be directly implemented in commercial computer programs for structural analysis to study interactions arising between buckling-type marine fenders and flexible berthing structures. In this paper, the model effectiveness in capturing the behavior of fenders and parallel motions systems is evaluated through comparisons of results, both in terms of reaction force and absorbed energy, with data of real devices, obtained from three different manufacturers. Results demonstrate the model efficiency and suitability for reproducing the behavior of a wide range of devices.