Principles of Fendering

Principles of Fendering

Why Use Fendering
“There is a simple reason to use fenders: it is just too expensive not to do so”. In addition to the financial aspect, safety is probably an even more important reason to install fenders.

The inceased necessity and the economic reasons to use fendering come from various sources:
● Minimize the life-cycle construction and operations costs;
● Accommodate more ship types and sizes
● The requirements of deeper water mooring or berthing
● Better ship stability when moored
● Safety of staff, ships and structures

Fendering Principles
Fendering is basically the interface between a vessel and the berth facility. This medium serves to absorb a certain portion of the kinetic energy of a vessel without damage to the vessel and the waterfront structure.  In the case of rubber fenders, which are generally relatively soft, the majority of the energy is absorbed through elastic deflection of the fender. But, possibly also the deflection of the berth facility and/or the vessel’s hull will contribute to the absorption of the kinetic energy. 

The deflection multiplied by the reaction force which is generated and a certain efficiency factor equals the kinetic energy.

The energy that is absorbed by the fender system during compression is partially returned to the vessel and partially dissipated in the form of heat within the material.

Fender Design
The design of a fender system deserves as much attention as the design of any other element of the structure of which it is a part. The selection of fender system and type and the selection of the system and type of structure should be interactive.

Please refer the flow chart for the design of a fender system: