Interestingly, the same thing happened after completing his bachelor’s degree: Tarmo was convinced he was done with school, but just two weeks later, he had already enrolled in a master’s programme. His passion for finding solutions to practical problems has undoubtedly led him to new challenges time and again – one of which is his PhD. Under the supervision of Professor Mihkel Kõrgesaar, Tarmo is now researching ship crashworthiness and developing a simulation model that allows for quick and accurate assessment.

So far, Tarmo Sahk has completed several courses during his studies, providing him with a solid theoretical foundation for his research. At the same time, he has evaluated existing solutions in the field to identify unanswered questions. This approach helps him determine which gaps his work could fill. He plans to publish a conference paper and a journal article in 2025.

The PhD research helps predict the consequences of ship collisions

The development of a simulation model for ship crashworthiness assessment is the central focus of Tarmo Sahk's PhD research. The model aims to help predict a ship’s behaviour in the event of a collision. Simply put, if a ship were to be involved in an accident, we want to understand the extent of damage it would cause and how to minimise it. Typically, such assessments involve complex calculations that analyse the movement of each water particle around the vessel. While highly accurate, this approach is also slow and costly.

The computational model being developed by Tarmo Sahk aims to provide a faster and simpler way to assess the consequences of ship collisions. While the traditional approach requires detailed calculations of the movement of every water particle, Tarmo is working on a simplified mathematical model in his research that offers an approximate but sufficiently accurate result. This would make the calculations significantly faster and less resource-intensive while still providing a precise overview of the ship’s crashworthiness. During the research, the computational model will also be validated through model tests in a test basin.

The new approach is crucial for quickly and effectively assessing the crashworthiness of ships and other marine structures, especially with the adoption of green fuels such as hydrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG). For instance, due to their lower energy density, hydrogen and LNG require larger storage tanks, which are challenging to install on existing vessels as they must comply with safety standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). However, the IMO allows alternative structural solutions, provided that their safety is validated through advanced FSI (Fluid-Structure Interaction) simulations, which simultaneously calculate both the vessel’s movement and the structural response.

Therefore, the desired end result is to develop a computational model that can be easily integrated into existing design frameworks and enable the creation of alternative, collision-resistant marine structures.