Objectives Reducing the weight of the cross-deck is an important method for reducing the weight and center of gravity of a trimaran. Structural strength analysis is used as the premise for judging whether a weight reduction method is feasible.
Methods Based on the loading characteristics of a trimaran, a new dispersed cross-deck structure is proposed in which most of the unnecessary panels are removed. The finite element (FE) direct calculation method is adopted to analyze the structural strength of the dispersed cross-deck, and its strength is then compared with that of the traditional integral cross-deck.
Results The results show that using the dispersed cross-deck can reduce the structural weight and center of gravity of a trimaran by 6.75% and 5.54% respectively on the premise of meeting the structural strength requirements.
Conclusions Using the dispersed cross-deck can greatly reduce the structural weight and vertical location of the center of gravity, which provides new approaches for the structural design of trimarans.
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