Implosion mechanisms of underwater ring-stiffened metallic cylindrical shells

Underwater cylindrical shells are prone to implosion due to the surrounding high hydrostatic pressure, and introducing ring-rib is a promising approach to reduce the risk. However, the influences of the ring-rib on the deformation mode and the fluid-structure interaction mechanism are still unclear. This paper investigates the dynamic response of ring-stiffened cylindrical shells during the implosion process. The finite element model is firstly established and the numerical simulation is verified by the existing experiment. Then, the numerical method is used to simulate the implosion of ring-stiffened cylindrical shells with various geometrical parameters. The fluid motion, induced pressure and deformation features are investigated and the relationship between them is clarified. Finally, pure and ring-stiffened cylindrical shell implosions are compared and parametric analyses are performed by varying the number and thickness of ring-ribs. Results show that ring-stiffened cylindrical shells with higher collapse resistance deform asymmetrically and the flow field response changes depending on the deformation mode. Introduction of ring-ribs can significantly increase the critical pressure and reduce the percentage of induced pressure. As the number and thickness of ribs increased, the critical and peak implosion pressures of the ring-stiffened cylindrical shells increased by 153% and 146%, respectively.