Process Chaining to Enable a Material-Informed Digital Twin Prototype for Marine Structures

Residual stress from fabrication can severely degrade structural performance over a ship’s lifecycle. However, the evolution of the residual stress distribution throughout the shipbuilding process is not well understood. ICME techniques enable linking disparate software codes across multiple length scales, thereby facilitating simulation of the entire material lifecycle. This project pairs computational simulation with physical measurement for verification and validation (V&V) of the linked finite-element analysis (FEA) tools. The linked FEA tools, in a technique referred to as process chaining, enable simulation of a representative marine structure. Concurrently, the residual stress in an analogous physical structure was measured through each step of the fabrication process: incoming plate, cutting, and welded assembly. The effort followed specific areas within the component to understand the effects of fabrication on residual stress magnitude and distribution. This fabrication-cycle material information is essential to understand marine structures as the industry moves towards a digital twin standard.