Soil mechanics principles applied to the stability of ore cargoes

Dr David Hight

February 8, 2018

There are many cases of vessels sinking in heavy seas when carrying cargoes of nickel ore, iron ore fines and one case of a vessel carrying bauxite ore. Cargo liquefaction is often cited in the shipping world as the cause of the loss. This supposition will be investigated in the talk, taking into account the potential modes of instability of the cargo heaps, the properties of the unsaturated and uncompacted ores, and the complex stress paths to which they are subjected.