Abstract
In this study the axial crushing mechanism of bulbous bow were investigated using a series of experiments with large scale bulbous bow models and finite element analysis (FEA). Four kinds of models were collapsed quasi-statically by rigid board in the experiments. The collapse mode and load-displacement curves calculated by FEA were compared with those by experiments. Good agreement between FEA and experiments are obtained. Folding mechanism of outer shell became obvious by observing those results carefully. Moreover it is found that the simplified method, developed by one of the authors, could estimate mean crushing force in fair accuracy.
