CE 404

Concrete Canoe Design

For your final report for CE 404 you will follow the guidelines provided by the concrete canoe
rules to create an “Enhanced Focus Area Report”. Your report should be at least 5 pages long,
and needs to include a reference section indicating where you got your information from. An
electronic copy of your Final Report will be due on Beachboard on Friday 12/18/2020 by 11:59
PM. The following criteria will be used to grade your report:

 Writing clarity
 Organization
 Technical content

I am included some additional instructions provided by the concrete canoe rules:

In general, the Enhanced Focus Area can be on any aspect of the project to provide added value
to the proposal and justify the benefits of the results to help the proposal reviewers (judges) to
select the best proposal and therefore product. There will be no limits on tools or advanced
analysis techniques for work conducted in the Enhanced Focus Areas, however, all content
presented should be targeted for an audience of engineers who may not have a specialization in
the subdomain area. Some examples of potential Enhanced Focus Areas that teams can pursue
are listed below, however, this list is by no means all-inclusive and teams are encouraged to
select areas they deem most valuable.
Examples:
 Finite Element Analysis of proposed canoe prototype to improve the design of structural
elements
 Development of full-scale drawings and specifications for fabrication of the proposed
canoe
 Creation of Building Information Model of proposed canoe and the fabrication process
 Fluid dynamics analysis to optimize hull design
 Computational design optimization of concrete mixture proportions
 Development of team website for knowledge collection and transfer to future teams
  Fabrication of reduced scale prototype canoe
 Risk analysis of proposed canoe adherence to requirements
 Artistic design and rendering of canoe aesthetics and elements
 Construction of prototype canoe (full-scale or scaled version)
 Laboratory material testing.

Introduction:

Boat building has been an ancient art. It goes back before Noah. In the ancient times timber was
the primary building material used. Since then, the trends and the requirements have changed.
The boat building industry employed the use of steel. But then, during the World War II the
requirement of the boats was all time high. Due to the high demand and lesser availability of
material the industry graduated to use of light weight concrete. For this purpose, ferro cement
was presenting the most promising solution. Since then, the boat industry has come a long way.

National Concrete Canoe Competition was organized in 1988 by American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE). This competition is organized to give students hands on experience on
working civil engineering knowledge. The students get a chance to implement the knowledge
gained by them in the class and get a chance to participate in a healthy competition.
Case in Study
The case study used in this proposal is the canoe built by the team “Cementer” for the
competition to be held in Turkey. The competition was titled as National Intercollegiate Concrete
Canoe Competition held under the supervision of the Istanbul Technical University (ITU)
Engineering Preparation Club in 2017.
Building Material Used for Canoe Construction
Although the basic construction material used for canoe construction is concrete the normal
concrete made up of Cement Sand and Aggregate is denser which combined with rower weight
will sink the canoe. Lightweight aggregate is used to address this issue. Lightweight concrete
uses glass particles in the place of heavier aggregate particles. Different variations of mix design
were used to achieve the most appropriate results.
Cement was used as a binding material. To improve the binding capability silica fume having
92.25% SioO2 was added with 20,000 m2/kg nitrogen was also added in the mix. The added
amount of silica fume will reduce the amount of cement require hence reducing the altogether
weight of the canoe with the same amount of absorption capability. radeep et. al used the rice
hus for achieving the same goal. 1]. But for the study, we will be focused on the silica fume
along with nitrogen to increase the bonding capacity of the concrete will be focused.
In the place of aggregate, which consists of tiny rocks and some sand as filler material, expanded
glass aggregate was used. The weight of the glass is significantly less than the stone aggregate
which will in the end create a Lightweight concrete. Three different sizes were used by the team
cementer to find the optimal mix. The size of these particles was as follow:

Serial No. Size

(mm)
1 0.25-0.5
2 0.5-1.0
3 1.0-2.0

The specific gravity of these particles was ranging from 0.5 to 0.8. To increase the ductility of
the canoe polypropylene plastic fibers were used. These fibers had a length of 6 mm and 0.91
specific gravity. The polypropylene fibers were acting as one of the layers of reinforcement for
the canoe. The main reinforcement was provided by the Basalt Geogrid mesh which was placed
under the canoe to provide flexural strength.
With additional silica fume in the concrete, the workability of the mix was a very important issue
that needed to be looked at. The team cementer encountered this issue with the help of a
polycarboxylic ether-based superplasticizer. The use of a superplasticizer helps to achieve the
target workability. To enhance the fresh mortar properties of the mix an admixture was used. The
admixture was polymer-based. In general, admixtures consisting of polymer-based help improve
the workability of the concrete, especially cement-based composites. The admixture helps
concrete as an air-entraining agent and provides reduced friction (Ohama, 19972).
Mixture Design
The basic requirement of required concrete mixture to be used in a canoe must have the
following properties:
 Hardened unit weight of concrete less than 1000 kg/m3.
 Through workability with puddy like the mix.
 Structural properties of the shell element.
 Tight bond between concrete and reinforcement material.
 Geometrically stable to hold its place during the curing phase.
 Water Tightness so that it won’t sin
As it can be seen from the above-mentioned list that it is very difficult to achieve a mix-design
having all those properties. So, a trial-and-error method was used to achieve the most optimized
mix design. The variables include: Cement type, water to cement ratio, aggregate type, pozzolan
source, replacement ratio, and different chemical admixtures were the main variables for these
trial mixtures. The most optimized was achieved by performing multiple mix designs and then
finally selecting the mix which the offering the most appropriate results.
Canoe Hull Design:
With races that incorporate straightaways, fastener turns, and even a slalom course, creators are
confronted with the unavoidable undertaking of building up a canoe that can accomplish clashing
goals—specifically the capacity to travel straight and quick, however, stay flexible enough to
arrange the turns.
The plan of a canoe normally experiences three phases; idea, fundamental concept, and
agreement plan. The way that PC supported plan is being utilized on canoe additionally asserts
that PCs are just an apparatus to assist with the plan. Subsequently, the fashioner of the boat is
answerable for settling the issues with sensible and now and again inventive plan equations and
basically analyzing the results. Regardless of whether some standard sub-undertakings are
naturally performed by PCs, canoe configuration is finished by individuals utilizing PCs.
However, despite the advances in innovation, PC supported boat configuration will proceed since
the commencement of individuals as a duty of individuals. The canoe configuration measure
serves to give a total item portrayal, reasonable for all resulting execution and security
appraisals, and for arranging of sources of info and conveyance to send creation. To this end, the
planning cycle should create a total item model that characteri es the canoe’s attributes for all
resulting evaluations as required. Therefore, C programs are basic assistants for transport
fashioners. 3]
The length of the canoe was chosen by mulling over the long-term rules of the NCCC,
coordinated by ASCE. The NCCC max 22 feet generally length and max 36 inches outward
pillar rules are completed. Additionally, profit by the benefits of the MAXSURF®, a planned
program regularly utilized in shipbuilding, for plan the canoe’s body structure. MAXSURF® is
appropriate for the perception, plan, and improvement of the marine vehicles. It was worked to
make reasonable frame shapes, consent to strength necessities, limit power prerequisites, and
guarantee team and traveler comfort in different ocean states. t has been embraced that while
guaranteeing scantling consistency through beginning displaying and stress investigation of pillar
and plate structures, limit primary weight. 4].
In this study, the mentioned software was used for hull design, stability analysis, resistance
prediction, and motion prediction. Shown in the Figure below.

Canoe Production Procedure

To guarantee that the planned structure is applied on the solid kayak in the most ideal manner
and the plan after projecting is appropriate, the form was set up by utilizing high thickness
Styrofoam through Computer Numerical Control (CNC) cutting strategy. The form was covered
by fiberglass and epoxy
Structural Analysis
Progressions in demonstrating and investigation programming have empowered the
reconciliation of 3D models and examination in numerous expert structural designing activities.
Supervising pupils through this coordination may turn out to be progressively vital for
professional arrangement. Furthermore, the change of a 3D model in an examination program to
expand the exactness of results to mirror a real structure might be fundamental for designing
ventures including existing structures, for example, fixes.
Some of the benefits from the numerical modeling of the concrete canoe were
 Streamlining of canoe thickness with racing instigated stresses
 Streamlining of canoe shape with racing incited stresses
Analytical prediction of the li ely response for a structural element is an essential component of
structural engineering. 5]. To use the maximum characteristics offered by the material non-
linear finite element model of the concrete canoe was devised to determine the moment capacity
under buoyant and rower loads by computer program S- Y A STC 6). The application
of the software helped in optimizing the results. The analytical results were prepared using the
mix design which was finalized using silica fumes and nitrogen was modeled in the software and
analysis was performed to determine the best shape of the concrete canoe. The final results were
incorporated into the prototype designed for the competition.
For numerical modeling concrete in the software triangular shell element having a width of
20mm thickness was used. Modeled material represented the cracks in the concrete due to
tension and compression. It was assumed that in the numerical model Roller and Hinged
supports were present on either end.
The transportation of the canoe is an essential component of the competition. The process of
transportation consists of 2 persons picking up the canoe and then taking it to the water channel.
During this process, the self-weight of the boat is the major factor governing. The self-weight of
the canoe basically pushes it down. When the competitors enter the water the boat is essentially
pushed because of its self-weight. Self-weight creates tension on the base and the paddles of the
canoe are produced. This condition causes extreme strain in the boat structure [7]
Conclusion
During the process of studying this case following conclusions were made
A properly designed concrete for the production of concrete canoe should have the following
properties
 Lesser unit weight than water to keep the canoe afloat.
 An adequate amount of boding with reinforcement.
 reasonable rheological properties for shape type and projecting strategy utilized,
 resilience micro-cracking emerging from shrinkage, stacking, and dynamic impacts, and
water impermeability.
 use of expanded glass aggregate is the main way to reduce unit weight, whereas the
incorporation of polypropylene fibers and the acrylic dispersion-based admixture is
effective for increasing flexural performance and reducing cracking.
 Structural analyses also revealed that the canoe numerical model would not reach
ultimate moment capacities under design loads. Nonlinear finite element models of the
concrete canoe were generated using three-node shell elements. Concrete canoe
numerical models were analyzed under displacement-controlled loading to obtain
moment capacities in upward and downward directions. Structural analyses revealed that
the canoe numerical model could carry the design loads and would not reach ultimate
moment capacities under buoyant and rower loads.
References

1. S Pradeep1, P Deepak2 and S Dheepak3; Rice husk ash based cementitious material for
concrete canoe. IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 912 (2020) 062004
IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1757-899X/912/6/062004
2. Ohama, Y. (1997). Recent progress in concrete-polymer composites. Advanced Cement
Based Materials. Vol. 5 pp. 31-40.
3. Nowacki, H. (2010). Five decades of computer-aided ship design. Computer-Aided
Design, Vol. 42, pp. 956-969
4. Initial hull design software. (2017). https://www.bentley.com/en/products/product-
line/offshore-structural analysis-software/maxsurf
5. Sullivan, J. S., Pinho, R., and Pavese, A. (2004). An Introduction to Structural Testing
Techniques in Earthquake Engineering. IUSS Press, Italy.
6. LSTC, 2007, LS- Y A User’s manual, ivermore Software and Technology
Corporation, Livermore, CA, USA.
7. Kratochvíl, J. Design and Realization of Blue Lion Concrete Canoe. Diploma thesis,
Faculty of Civil Engineering CTU in Prague. Prague, 2010.