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Product category: Design and Development Consultancy
News Release from: Ansys
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 01 March 2006

Software firm picked to help Safedor
project

Simulation software and technologies firm selected for European project to improve the safety, security, environmental impact and competitiveness of the maritime industry.

Ansys has been selected as one of four software manufacturers providing expertise to the Safedor project, which is charged with improving the safety, security, environmental impact and competitiveness of Europe's maritime industry Ansys will work in tandem with other Safedor partners to develop innovations applicable to cruise ships, ferries, tankers and container ships

Safedor (Design, Operation and Regulation for Safety) is a 50-plus-member European consortium whose mission is to provide cost-effective ways to improve waterborne transport while treating safety as a design objective rather than a constraint.

This holistic approach uses a risk-based framework, which from the outset considers safety levels such as probabilities and consequences of sinking, structural failure, collision and fire alongside standard design objectives (including speed, cargo capacity, passenger capacity and turnaround times).

Safedor's members include a number of industry stakeholders: government agencies; ship owners, operators and builders; component and equipment manufacturers; engineering consultants; universities and research institutes; classification societies; and software manufacturers.

Ansys is contributing expertise to a Safedor sub-project named "Probabilities of Fire and Explosion Events".

The tasks include modelling of fires on ferries and cargo vessels as well as analysing associated fluid-structure interaction.

Ansys has provided simulation software to the marine industry for many years.

"Ansys has long served the marine industry with superior technology, giving customers an advantage in fire prevention and suppression as well as hydrodynamics, HVAC, fuel sloshing, mast and sail design and rotating equipment such as propellers and compressors", said Chris Reid, VP and General Manager at Ansys.

"Our partnership with Safedor will allow us to develop further expertise and contribute to marine safety, innovative technologies and prototype designs that may set new standards for the global maritime industry".

"Similar to the work we've done in fluid structure interaction, it will enable us to test the further integration of Ansys technology on real-life problems - for example, explosion modelling and simulation".

The staff at Ansys became actively involved in the safety sphere during the forensic investigation into the underground fire at London's King's Cross underground station in 1987, where 31 people were killed.

The Ansys engineering analysis team identified a phenomenon known as trench effect (in which a fire burns next to an inclined surface) as the explanation for the rapid flame spread.

Subsequently, the knowledge gained as a result of Ansys simulations was an important factor in changing operations and safety strategy for underground railways.

"As a proven innovator, Ansys brings much value to the Safedor project by allowing us to model and understand complex phenomena", said Pierre Sames, Chairman of the Safedor steering committee.

"The company's engineering expertise and advanced software can provide answers to questions that couldn't previously be answered - and even the questions themselves were once inconceivable".

"Ansys products will be instrumental in contributing to safe shipping".

Sames is also Head of Strategic Research at Germanischer Lloyd, the company co-ordinating the Safedor project.

Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, it provides technical and engineering services to the global shipping industry.

Ansys software is an engineering tool that can be used to simulate many types of industrial flow and heat transfer processes.

The company is active in the fire research community, developing and testing new models for different types of fires and fire scenarios - including: well-ventilated and under-ventilated fires; backdraft; fire suppression and smoke movement in buildings, tunnels, aircraft and ships; blast waves; and vapour cloud explosion in congested regions.

Ansys products have been used to analyse wind effects on oil-pool fires on oil platforms.

The software also is employed in more diverse areas: for example, to predict the interaction between the hull of a ship and its propeller (leading to improved propeller design) and to analyse fuel-water mixing in ship compensated fuel and ballast tanks to reduce the potential for pollution during refuelling.

Century Dynamics, a subsidiary of Ansys, is also active in the marine safety sphere with two products - Aqwa, a complete hydrodynamic and structural analysis system for floating structures, and Autoreagas for explosion modelling.

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