Objectives  The result of ship collision is often catastrophic, especially a marine ecological disaster caused by the collision or stranding of double-hull oil tanker is difficult to recover from for many years. In order to assess the crashworthiness of double-hull structure, the test and simulation study on the damage characteristics of double-hull ship structures subjected to head-on collision on by a wedge indenter were conducted.

  Methods  First, quasi-static indentation experiment is performed for double-hull structure model. Then the finite-element software LS-DYNA is used to perform numerical simulation of the double-hull structure test model.

  Results  The study results indicate the test matches well with the numerical simulation in terms of collision load response and deformation modes. There is great difference between the deformation and damage modes of the outer plate and inner plate of the double hull. Due to the plastic deformation in web girder between the outer and inner plates, the fracture initiation in outer plate was delayed.

  Conclusions  The results in this research could be used to assess the damage characteristics of boardside structure or ship bottom structure during under collision or stranding.