Structural monitoring system of the hull of a ship integrated with a navigation decision support system

A system for assisting the driving of a ship, comprising:

• a navigation detector adapted to provide an indication of motion of the ship;
• an environmental detector adapted to provide an indication of sea wave motion;
• and
• at least one processing unit, configured to execute in real time, during the motion of the ship, the following steps:
• determining rigid body ship motions due to direct wave excitation based on the indication of the ship motion and on the indication of the sea wave motion,
• estimating structural loads of the ship due to the direct wave excitation, said estimation being calculated on the basis of said determination of the rigid body ship motions,
• evaluating and providing an indication of wave slamming on the ship,
• estimating the structural loads of the ship due to the whipping effect caused by the wave slamming, said estimate being calculated on the basis of said indication of wave slamming on the ship, wherein said estimates of structural loads are based on 3D finite element models, which reproduce dynamic behaviors of the ship structure,
• calculating a combination of the estimated structural loads, and
• graphically and/or numerically presenting the combination of the estimated structural loads;
• at least one reference sensor adapted to provide an indication of a motion or stress magnitude at a predetermined point of the ship structure,
• said at least one processing unit being further configured to execute in real time, during the motion of the ship, the following steps:
• calculating an estimate of said magnitude at the predetermined point of the ship structure, said calculation including:
• calculating a first estimate contribution due to the direct wave excitation, said first estimate contribution being calculated on the basis of said determination of the rigid body ship motions,
• calculating a second estimate contribution due to the whipping effect caused by the wave slamming, said second estimate contribution being calculated on the basis of said indication of wave slamming on the ship, wherein said estimate contributions are based on 3D finite element models, which reproduce dynamic behaviors of an area of the ship structure at said predetermined point,
• calculating a combination of said first and second estimate contribution,
• comparing said indication of magnitude, provided by the reference sensor during the motion of the ship, with the estimate of said magnitude to determine an offset value;
• and
• correcting the estimates of the structural loads and/or the estimate of said magnitude on the basis of said offset value.