Commercial vessels, platforms and offshore drilling: our teams have acquired solid knowledge from the main players in these sectors to meet the challenges of safety and performance of marine structures.

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is a competitive area where design steps are necessary to ensure optimal and efficient vessel operation. The rationalisation of construction, the increase in loading capacity, and the reduction of operating costs are some of the major challenges. Safety and environmental protection are highly regulated, resulting in the emergence of new types of propulsion: hydrogen, hybrids, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Our know-how in the management of large-scale modelling and in the automation of meshes finds can be used to full effect in the naval field to evaluate the mechanical strength of large welded structures. Our teams are able to simulate the wave behaviour of a ship and optimise the hydrodynamic performance of its architecture and its propulsion systems (propellers, pods, hydrojets).

Offshore platforms and drilling

Offshore installations are subject to extreme natural constraints such as wind and swell. Drilling processes and associated structures represent a significant investment in research and development. Our studies optimise the production rates of these processes while limiting the risk of explosion. Our teams are able to evaluate the consequences of erosion by water and sand and measure the effects of natural constraints on structures. CIMES is also developing complex virtual prototypes to simulate new concepts of offshore extraction, an environment where physical testing is almost impossible.

Our actions

Initial design

  • Research of innovative structural concepts
  • Welded, riveted, bolted or glued joints
  • Modelling automation

General mechanics

  • Study of large structures (service and exceptional loads)
  • Equipment fatigue resistance

CFD, external and internal aerodynamics, heat exchange

  • Hydrodynamics, wave behavior
  • Buoyancy
  • Free surface effect (sloshing), ballasts
  • Erosion prediction
  • Piping
  • Load losses
  • Fire and heat spread

Tests

  • Test follow-up
  • Correlation of test calculations

Respect of norms and standards

  • Shipbuilding
    DNV-GL, Bureau Veritas, ClassNK, Lloyd's Register
  • Oil & Gas Structures
    API RP 2A