Abstract

The article discusses optimization of barge hull by decreasing of its mass parameters by changing of thickness of the plates. The fish-feeding barges are usually used in calm water and in this case it is possible to consider only static loads applied on the barge hull.

There are many calculation methods for determining stress and deflections in the thin plates. A lot of them are using uniformly distributed load and constant thickness of the plate. In real conditions, a hydrostatic pressure is applied on the barge hull. In this research, we consider a calculation method of thin plates taking into account variable thickness of the plates and non-uniformly load. In addition, we try to show by experiments and FEM analysis the possibility to use variable thickness of barge hull in building of fish-feeding barges.