Ship collision performance of a fiber-reinforced composite material winding tube filled with ceramic pellets

In recent years, collisions between ships and bridges, both domestically and internationally, have led to significant casualties and economic losses. To better protect both bridges and ships during such incidents, this article proposes a new anti-collision device composed of fiber-reinforced composite winding tubes filled with ceramic pellets (FCMWTC). The structure consists of an outer layer made of a fiber-reinforced composite winding tube, with the inner part filled with low-density, energy-dissipating ceramic pellets. The FCMWTC units are connected and positioned around the bridge pier to resist ship collisions, providing dual protection for both ships and bridges. Static compression and horizontal impact tests were conducted on composite tubes with different fiber winding angles, both with and without ceramic pellets filling. The energy absorption characteristics and failure mechanisms of the specimens were analyzed. Numerical simulations of the horizontal impact tests were carried out using ANSYS/LS-DYNA, and the simulation results showed good agreement with the experimental data. Based on the validated finite element model, the influence of fiber winding angle on the peak impact force was further compared and analyzed. The results indicated that the composite winding tube with a 45° fiber winding angle provided the highest reduction rate of impact force, making it the optimal winding angle. In addition, the numerical simulation results of the full-scale ship-FCMWTC-bridge collision demonstrate that the device exhibits excellent energy dissipation performance, making it an effective anti-collision system.