SHIP BUILDING MATERIALS

HISTORY
STEEL
FRP/GRP
ALUMINIUM
BRONZE/

HISTORY (t339)
 Till 100 years ago the construction was by wood and then by iron
 Steel as replacement
 All welding construction from riveted------------- Notch

toughness gained importance-- from prevention of the

brittle failure ( failures in 1940)

 Developments gained momentum with the design

requirements of
 Container ships
 Liquefied Gas Carriers
 High Speed Surface –effect ship( Hydrofoil)
 Mobile and fixed off shore platforms

 Many intersecting –complex structural members----

requires consideration for material properties- where

tensile loads are perpendicular to the plate surfaces

 Material Properties (T 339-345)

 Tensile Strength( Tensile test)

o Proportional limit?( Maximum unit stress at which

strain remains directly proportional to stress is

known as proportional limit)

o Yield point
o Yield strength
 Ductility( Thro Bend test)—Not used for the testing for

raw materials
 Hardness(Thro Rockwell/Brinell)-To cross verify the

Tensile strength of steel, check uniformity of material,

indicate the heat treatment due to welding of steel

 Fatigue strength( Cyclic loading test)—Fatigue failure

initiates a crack-- propagate- eventually fails on

continuous cyclic loading.

 Fatigue failure depends on the material, stress

concentration, environment, order of loading of varying

stresses, stress range, homogeneity of material, and

overall design.
Normally in ship , the fatigue failure occurs because of stress concentration and

poor workmanship.
 Notch toughness( Impact testCharpy V notch test,

Drop weight test, Special Fracture Mechanics Test)-----

DBTT or NDTT –
o Energy absorbed in the ductile mode (fibrous

structure), being large--------at certain lower

temperature, will fail in the Brittle mode

(Crystalline structure) at much lower energy

levels.
o This temp------------- transition from failure from

ductile-> Brittle mode ------. NDTT/DBTT

o Transition Temperature---------- not a material

constant , but influenced by

 Rate of loading, Notch actuity, Flaw size,

Structural and local constraint, Alloy micro

structure, and nature of loading

SHIP BUILDING STRUCTURAL STEELS(E 42---)

 MILD STEEL
 HIGH TNSILE STEEL
 CORROSION RESISTANT STEEL
 STEEL SANDWICH PANELS
 STEEL CASTINGS
 STEEL FORGINGS

Steel Manufacture

 Alloy of Iron and Carbon , carbon percentage varying from 0.1% in

mild steel to 1.8% in hardened steel

 Manufactured by
o OPEN HEARTH PROCES S
o BESSEMER CONVERTER PROCESS
o ELCTRRIC FURNACE PROCESS
o OXYGEH PROCESS
 Above processes can be classified in to Acidic or Basic depending upon the

type of slag that they produce

Acidic for refining pig iron low in phosphorous and Sulphur ,rich in silicon

--------- produce an ACIDIC slag

Basic for refining pig iron that is rich in phosphorous and low in silicon and

Phosphorous removed by the addition of LIME-------------------- produce

basic slag

 Normally Open hearth Furnace, Electric Furnace and Oxygen process

are used for producing steel for ship Building purposes

Chemical addition to steels—

 For deoxidizing the metal,

 For removal of impurities
 Amount of deoxidizing elements added , determines , whether the
steels are rimmed steels or killed steels
 Rimmed steel are produced by addition of less deoxidizing
elements and those steels having 0.2% to 0.6% Mn , only can be
rimmed.
 Killed steel is produced by addition of Aluminum or Silicon and are
highly Chemically Homogeneous.
 Semi killed steel is produced when the partial deoxidation
process in the above is undertaken.
 Heat Treatment of steel
 Undertaken to bring about the change in the mechanical properties,
by modifying the microstructure
 Different processes are
 Annealing
 Normalizing
 Quenching
 Tempering
 Stress relieving
DETAILS OF ABOVE PROCESS SELF STUDY

SHIP BUILDING STEEL

 Normally mild steel containing C (0.15% to 0.23%) and of reasonably

high manganese content are used
 S+P content put together < 0.05%
o Higher concentration of above will lead to weld defects and
poor Weldability

Any steel for ship building ----------need to be produced by a

manufacturer, certified by the CLASSIFICATION SOCIETY----- to which it is
being built

Requisite tests as prescribed by the Classification society is carried out

and are stamped.
  Initially ship classification societies had their own and varying
specifications, for steel, and in 1959 all the major societies agreed to
standardize their requirements , so
 That the required Grades of steel are kept to a minimum
 AS ON NOW there are only FIVE DIFFERENT types of steel, employed
in merchant construction and
 are GRADED as A,B,C, D & E

 Grade A –being ordinary mild steel to Lloyds register

requirements and generally used in ship building
 Grade B is better quality mild steel than Grade A and rare
specified where thicker plates are required in more critical
region
 Grades C,D and E posses higher notch toughness
 And Grade C being to American Bureau of shipping
requirements

High Strength steel—

 Used in the highly stressed regions of large tankers, Container ships,

and Bulk Carriers
 Use of high strength ----------- Thickness can be less for bottom
shell, deck, framing ,BUT----- leads to larger deflections
 Other factors that need to be looked upon are the Weldability and
reduced fatigue life
 The effect of corrosion due to lesser thickness also need to be looked
into
 Ref Ch 3 for the Lloyds Rules of Manufacture , testing and
certification of materials
 High Strength steels are available in three strength levels 32, 36 and
40(Kg/mm2) , when supplied in rolled or normalized condition
  Also material with six higher strength levels are available –
42,46,50,55 ,62 and 69( Kg/mm2) , when supplied in Quenched and
Tempered condition
o Each strength level is sub divided into four grades AH,BH,CH
and DH depending on the required level of Notch toughness

Corrosion resistant steels

o Steels with alloying elements possessing excellent corrosion

resistance -------------- Stainless steels-------- normally not used as
they are not cost effective
o Normally used in the fabrication of Cargo tanks containing highly
corrosive cargoes
o For oil tankers, in the inner surfaces, especially the deck head
and the bottom are protected by corrosion resistant coatings

Steel Castings

 Molten steel from Open hearth furnace, Electric Furnace,O2 process

is poured in a controlled way into a mold
 And allowed to solidify to the required shape
 After removal, the required heat treatment -------- ANNEALING
/NORMALISING AND TEMPERING AS required to reduce the
brittleness
Stern frames, Rudder frames, Frames for bossing and any other
structural components may be produced by Castings

Steel forgings

o Mode of shaping the metal by heating to temperature, wherein it

becomes more or less plastic
o Followed by hammering or Squeezing to the required form
o Normally forgings are made from KILLED steel (Open Hearth ,Electric
Furnace or O2 process)
 o Where ever possible the working of metal( ie the direction of
application of force ) is such that the metal flow is in most favorable
direction wrt the mode of stressing in service
o After forging operation, heat treatment is required , preferably
annealing or normalizing and tempering to remove the effects of
working and non uniform cooling

Self Study for the ABS ( American Bureau of Shipping(Tuggard) ----Types of

steels) ,Castings, Forgings,

Special steel,

 Steels for low temperature applications

 Mobile off shore drilling units

 Corrosion Resistant steels

 Steels with Improved thro thickness properties

 Abrasion resistant steels

Aluminum alloy (Superstructure material)

Salient features

 Al is lighter than Mild steel( Al Wt--2.723T/Cu.M , Steel Wt—

7.84T/Cu.M)-------- upto 60% of wt of steel structure can be saved
o Above being the distinct advantage for Merchant ship
construction
  Non magnetic
 High resistance to corrosion
 For the effective utilization of the above property, the correct
maintenance procedure and proper insulation from adjoining
structures is very critical
Major disadvantage being the high initial costs and fabrication
costs

Other contributing factors for use of aluminum are as follows—

 Superstructures of bigger ships of Aluminum , aids in the

reduction of displacement
And increase in the Transverse stability

 Mainly for those vessels , having a fairly high speed and

power, and for ships deadwt/lighhtwt ratio is low,----
appreciable savings can be expected

Production of Aluminum

 Ore is bauxite containing 56% of Al

 Extraction of Al is complicated and costly process in two
distinct stages
o First step is Bauxite is purified to obtain pure
Aluminum oxide(alumina)
o Then the alumina is reduced to metallic aluminum
 Normally metal is cast in pig or ingot forms and
o Alloys are added when required ,before the metal is cast into billets
or slabs for subsequent rolling, extrusion or other forming operations
 Sectional material is produced by the Process of extrusion , mainly for very
intricate shapes and
( diff sections Fig 6.1 pg52E)

Aluminum alloys (E51)

 Pure Al is of low tensile strength and alloying with other materials is a
must to attain higher tensile strength and for use for ship building
purpose
 Two distinct groups are Non heat treated alloys and Heat treated alloys
(Subject to controlled heating and cooling cycles to improve tensile
strength)

---------- Non heat treated---- cold working -------- increase in the

strength---- but matl will become less ductile

--------Heat treated + alloying -------Mainly Mg2Si--- Good resistance to

Corrosion and High Ultimate strength

--As per Aluminum Association serial no 5000 alloys are for the non heat
treated series and 6000 alloys being for heat treated

Nature of heat treatment is indicated by additional lettering

and numbering
 WOOD

 Wood for the hull till about 1859

Advantages being
 Buoyant
 Weigh FOR weight –more efficient in resisting the local
damage than STEEL
Disadvantge being
 In the natural form /state the strength is unreliable
 Difficult to make efficient joint
 Cannot be used to support heavy machinery owing to its lack of rigidity

ADVENT OF RESIN –RESULTED IN USE OF TIMBER-----

 Frames of any shape can be made by gluing together thin
laminates , to produce much strong and reliable members
 Planking can be made from laminates laid in different
directions to make a continuous shell of adequate bending and
shearing strength
 High strength/Wt ratio by the above technique ………………-----
very light hulls for fast patrol boats and crafts
 BUT ,COSTLY,ABOUT THREE TIMES THE COST OF STEEL ON THE
WEIGHT BASIS

Different Types of timber used for the ship construction are

 Khaya—Commonly known as African Mahogany

 Moderately Durable, Medium Weight,Hard wood ,
Good strength and gluing properties
 Agba—African Timberof similar weight and strength
properties, but more durable --- more resistant to rot
 Resins normally used for glueing purpose are
o Phenol-Formaldihyde resin ,which is a hot setting
glue used in plywood manufacturer and
o Resorcinal- formaldihyde resin which is cold
setting and used for glueing the planks or sheets
for formation of hull and similar parts , on the
building site.

FRP/GRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic/Glass Reinforced Plastic)

 Essentially consist of flaments of glass in a matrix of resin , and has

properties , making it attractive material for marine applications
 Components

 Has a distinct advantage over other fibrous reinforcements as it has a high

strength (about 100 T/sq.in),good dimensional stability, resistance to
chemical attack, relatively cheap

 Fibres or filaments about 0.003 in in dia , normally drawn by drawing

molten glass from the bottom of the small furnace

 Resin normally used is Polyster resin and for special applications epoxide
resins are used.Though expensive and difficult to use, they posses better
strength and heat resistance properties

o Glass fibers contribute to strength, resin protects the fibers,

locates(positions ) them and transmits the load from one fiber to
another

o Tensile strength of the Glass and resin composite is less than that of
glass filament partly becos of

 Damage caused during weaving and laying and

 Partly becos of differing properties of glass and resin

 Material properties vary with type of fabric,proportion of glass to resin and

also the care with which the mold is made

 ((p 71 Newton)

Molding Process

 Normal process, Pressure Bag process and filament winding(for Pipes and
pressure vessels)

o Mold is built up of metal or wood -- shape of the structure

required , coated with he release agent and layers of thin cloth laid in
, each layer being wetted -- and then rolled to remove air bubbles

Application to ship building/boat construction—

 Principal advantages are that-

 Does not corrode

 Strength is unaffected irrespective of the extent of immersion

provided

 Right type of resin

 Glass cloth and

 Lay up techniques are adopted

 Very high strength/weight ratio

 Immune to biological attack

 Can be formed easily into complicated shapes of varying

thickness

 Main disadvantages being

o Low strength modulus compared with steel resulting in larger

deflection

o Virtually no yieldpoint ------- demanding very careful design to

account for stress concentration

o Though better fire resistant than Aluminum or wood, less comoared

to steel

o Strict quality control is necessary