Aluminium Alloys Used in the Marine Industry

Most common are 5083 & 5383. Aluminium-magnesium-silicon alloys - 6000 series, used primarily for
extruded sections. Most common are 6082, 6061, 6005A & 6060.May 1, 2008

Properties of aluminium that make it so popular in the marine industry include:

Aluminium is light weight.

It has high corrosion resistance in marine environments.

It has excellent strength to weight ratio.

It is available in sheet, plate, and complex extruded shapes.

It is easy to fabricate.

Reasons Why Aluminium is Such a Popular Material in the Marine Indstry

Properties of aluminium that make it so popular in the marine industry include:

Aluminium is light weight.

It has high corrosion resistance in marine environments.

It has excellent strength to weight ratio.

It is available in sheet, plate, and complex extruded shapes.

It is easy to fabricate.

Applications of Aluminium in the Marine Industry

Aluminium is ideal for the construction of small leisure boats, luxury vessels, workboats, fishing vessels,
and patrol boats through to some of the world’s largest high speed passenger / car ferries. The versatile
benefits of aluminium’s strength and weldability are well documented. It is the preferred material for
many designers and boat builders alike.
https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4193

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/25b1/f423ad4bb408d3f13f37422af5ba41628c8e.pdf

https://aluminiuminsider.com/aluminium-alloys-in-shipbuilding-a-fast-growing-trend/

Aluminium alloys in shipbuilding – a fast growing trend

JUN. 13, 2016 BY GORAN DJUKANOVIC

Aluminium alloys in shipbuilding – a fast growing trend

Benchijigua Express, built by Austal Ships, is the world's largest aluminium ship

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Trends in shipbuilding have become similar to those in the automobile industry in recent years and the
growing demand for automobiles, heavy duty vehicles, aircrafts, trains and ships is also set to
significantly spur demand for aluminium flat rolled and extruded products. In fact, the use of aviation,
marine and rail transportation will likely increase to such an extent that their combined energy demand
is expected to equal about 85 % of the amount used by light-duty vehicles by 2040, up from about 50 %
in 2014, according to Exxon Mobile.

The necessity for lowering the weight of different ships, in order to increase the payload and reduce fuel
consumption, has turned shipbuilders towards aluminium alloys due to their potential to reduce the
weight of ship structures by up to 50%, compared to those made from low carbon steels. Additionally,
the roughly five times higher costs of Al–alloys, with respect to the costs of low-carbon steel, become
acceptable if taking into account the total cost increase on one hand, and the payload increase as well as
the excellent corrosion resistance, on the other (lower maintenance costs). Al-alloys also directly reduce
the loss of cargo dead weight due to the lighter structure of a ship while at the same time improving the
ship’s stability. Moreover, by reducing the vessel’s weight, the use of aluminium alloys allows for higher
speeds, greater payloads, lower fuel consumption, longer distances and excellent manoeuvrability.

The position of steel as the most widely used material in the shipbuilding industry originates from its
superior mechanical properties and low manufacturing costs. However, the non-heat-treatable Al-Mg
alloys have been considered favourable in respect to the costs and all the required properties for
successful vessel service. The most popular aluminium alloys for use in corrosive environments are non-
heat treatable 5000, and heat-treatable 6000 type alloys, because of well-balanced strength
parameters, weldabilty and formability. The 6000 alloys are stronger but two to three times less
corrosion resistant than the 5000 series. The little to no need for maintenance of marine structure
surfaces (less frequent painting or other coating refreshments) is an important cost saving factor during
the serving of the ship – lifeline of any aluminium component.

The traditional and the most often used Al-alloys in shipbuilding are 5083 type Al- Mg alloy for plates,
and 6082 type Al-Mg-Si alloy for extrusions. These alloys were found to be reliable in marine service as
well as during manufacturing. Aluminium alloys meet or exceed the minimum yield strength
requirements for normal strength steels (mild steels), and could even compete with high strength steels.
They also have superior corrosion resistance (steel corroded at a rate of 120 micrometer per year, while
in a similar study, aluminium corroded at a rate of only 1 micrometer per year).

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The material costs of building a ship are only 1-2% of the total cost of the ship. Major costs are
associated with the manufacturing of the ship. Today’s advancements in manufacturing with aluminium
alloys are offering significant cost saving factors, and making aluminium ships in parity with steel ships
could be the future. Shipbuilders such as Australian company Austal are implementing additional
improvements in the production of aluminium ships – involving router cutting, work kitting, complex
extrusions and welding – that will significantly improve productivity and reduce costs in the future, since
labour is the highest cost when building a ship using aluminium alloys.

Austal is global leader in aluminium vessel construction and structural design. Aside from taking
advantage of the high strength of aluminium alloys for shipbuilding, they also use composite materials
(fibreglass and carbon fibre) for the purpose of lightening vessels. In general, all Australian shipyards
have built a reputation for quality and speed performance when it comes to aluminium intensive
vessels.

Makoto Yakata, general manager at UACJ’s sales planning department, one of global leading producers
of aluminium rolled products, recently told Bloomberg that demand for aluminium products by the LNG
shipbuilders had risen since the 2011 nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. The company’s forecast for
demand from LNG carriers has risen to 44,000 tonnes in 2015 with another increase to 56,000 tonnes in
the fiscal year 2016. One tanker uses 4,000 tonnes of aluminium sheets said Yakata, adding that it will
make products for 30 LNG carriers up until March 2017.

Aluminium is used not only in construction of tankers and big ships but also in yachts, motor boats,
cutters as well as underwater craft. Most of sporting boats are built from aluminium, from keel to mast,
which gives them a speed advantage, while high capacity vessels are built from steel. Nevertheless, the
superstructure and other auxiliary equipment is made from aluminium to save weight and increase the
cargo carrying capacity.

There is currently no available reliable data concerning how much aluminium alloys are used by
shipbuilders in more than 430 shipyards around the world, but an approximate (my personal) estimate it
is about 1 -1.2 million tonnes per year, most of which belongs to rolled aluminium products (75-80%).

Aluminium ships have a clear advantage over steel ships with regards to total ownership costs. This is
due to the fact that aluminium ships are lighter and use less fuel than steel ships. Aluminium ships also
do not incur lifecycle maintenance costs associated with painting, and because they are generally
smaller, they require less manning. And when an aluminium vessel reaches the end of its life span, it
continues to provide significant benefits as a result of its high recycling value.

With all the existing technologies and methods available for aluminium shipbuilding, aluminium has the
potential to replace steel in the future as the main ship construction material. The use of aluminium
alloys will especially grow in smaller ships and yachts while the long ships and tankers (over 130 m) will
continue to be dominated by steel. All in all, aluminium’s future in shipbuilding is bright.

https://www.google.com/search?
q=payload+container&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2s5mO0PDjAhXNN8AKHemmBFcQ1QIoBXoECAwQBg

https://www.google.com/search?
ei=srFKXcC3EcLBgQabqYPQAw&q=Aluminium+Alloys+for+ship+building

Marine-grade aluminium alloy is an established structural material for medium- to high-speed

commercial craft and has also been used as the primary hull material for several naval vessels. The
analysis of large high-speed craft operating in deep ocean environments requires rigorous
methodologies to evaluate the ultimate strength of the hull girders. Representative plate load-
shortening curves form part of simplified hull girder ultimate strength methodologies; for the case of a
high-speed aluminium vessel, the curves need to account for the effects of parameters including alloy
type, geometric imperfection, softening in the heat-affected zone, residual stresses, lateral pressure and
biaxial load. This paper examines the strength of a series of unstiffened aluminium plates with material
and geometric parameters typical of the midship scantlings of a high-speed vessel, using a non-linear
finite element approach. The parametric studies show that these factors can have a significant influence
on the strength behaviour of the plates both prior to and after the collapse point has been attained.

www.shipstructure.org/pdf/464.pdf

https://www.aluminumsheet.net/marine-aluminium-alloy-plate

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Mar 2019

Marine aluminium alloy plate in shipbuilding industry

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Aluminum is used more and more in the shipbuilding industry, small from rafts, motorboats, large to
10,000 tons of wheels, from civilian to military, from high-speed hovercraft to deep-water submarines,
from fishing boats to marine mining vessels, marine aluminium alloy plate materials are used as ship
shells, superstructures, various facilities, piping, and appliances. The use of aluminum plate in
shipbuilding not only saves resources and energy, protects the environment, and obtains huge social
benefits, but also brings considerable economic benefits.

marine aluminium alloy plate

The ship’s construction and industrial environment require that the material should have good corrosion
resistance, weldability, plasticity and certain resistance strength, yield strength, elongation, impact
resistance and other properties. In order to meet these properties, the most suitable marine grade
aluminum alloys for use on ships are industrial 5000 series and 6000 series alloys.

First, the 5083 5086 aluminum plate is a typical marine grade aluminum alloy, it has good weldability,
corrosion resistance and low temperature performance, and is used to construct the main structure of
the ship body.

Second, the 5052 aluminum plate has medium strength, good corrosion resistance and formability, and
high fatigue resistance. Mainly used for ship superstructure, auxiliary components, small boat hull.

Third, the 6061 aluminum alloy is a heat-treated reinforced aluminum alloy with high strength and low
single-welding strength, and is mainly used for a screw joint structure and a riveted structure which are
not in contact with seawater.

The 5083 aluminum plate, 5086 marine aluminium alloy plate, 5052 aluminum plate and 6061 aluminum
rod have been widely used in the field of ship parts processing.

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