YIELD STRENGTH OF THE EGADI 10 WARSHIP: USING NONLINEAR COMPUTER SIMULATIONS TO EXAMINE COLLISION DYNAMICS IN GRECO-ROMAN NAVAL CONFLICTS

Abstract

The study of ancient Mediterranean naval warfare expanded dramatically with the emergence of maritime archaeology and the subsequent discovery of artifacts and ship remains such as the Athlit and Egadi rams. The ship timbers preserved inside the rams radically increased the available information on ancient warships. These timbers offer a tantalizing glimpse at vessel construction, but leave scholars with more questions than answers. Given the knowledge acquired from the study of the Athlit and Egadi remains, it is possible to explore alternate archaeological methods to better understand the construction, use, and socio-cultural impact of ancient naval warships. The purpose of this thesis is to model a section of the Egadi 10 warship and simulate ramming events, thus examining collision damage and impacts on the hull. This experiment utilized Finite Element Analysis via Solidworks Simulation[trademark] in combination with Nonlinear Systems Theory as applied to experimental archaeology in order to investigate the yield strength of warships. Ultimately, achieving hull failure in the Egadi 10 proved significantly more difficult than expected and warranted a reexamination of previous scholarship and the ramming narrative.