Abstract: Abstract：Objectives In order to improve the collision capability of the light hull structure of a certain type of hovercraft in the process of mooring or frequent berthing at the port. Methods the fender and local hull finite element model were established in ABAQUS, and the nonlinear finite element method was used to carry out the collision dynamics analysis between the hull without fender, the hull equipped with rubber fender, and the hull with optimized structure supporting fenders and fender materials. Results the optimized structure supporting fenders can increase the energy absorption ratio of rubber fender by about 7%, and the composite fender can increase the energy absorption ratio by about 13% based on the weight reduction of about 50% compared with rubber fender. Conclusions According to the structural characteristics of the target hovercraft, the optimal design scheme of structure supporting fenders and composite fender is proposed, which has greatly improved the collision capability of the hull structure with rubber fender compared with that before optimization, and can provide reference for the fender design of similar light ship types.