Navies have a financial and scheduling incentive to substitute computer models for physical shock trials. A real trial can damage a new vessel, delay service, require repairs, and in a severe failure risk losing the ship. A possible approach is to shock-test the first ship in a class, or the second if the first is urgently needed, then use the resulting data to inform computer checks of later ships. This still requires physical evidence to establish whether the design assumptions hold. That evidence may also support crew confidence and gives funders proof of the shock resistance claimed for an expensive vessel.
Notable Point · 55:36-57:35
Computer shock models need physical trial data
Testing an early ship could provide the measured data needed to assess later ships by computer, while avoiding reliance on unproved shock-resistance claims.