NGEE ANN POLYTECHNIC

MARINE & OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY

HULL CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND OUTFITTING

1.0 GENERAL

The block assembly production method is the most common method of hull construction. By
this method, blocks are constructed in covered hull shops and the transported to building
berths or docks. The pre-erected block depends on the crane capacity available.
In principle, the hull production includes the following phases.
 Fabrication. Plates and sections are marked, cut and bent.
 Sub-assembly. Fabricated parts are assembled into suitable units, eg stiffener welded to
plate.
 Assembly. Finished sub-assembly parts are gathered and formed into block.
 Erection. Blocks are erected and joined in the building dock or building berth.

A simple building sequence from plate panels to volume sections is shown in Fig 1.1 and 1.2.
An overall view of blocks for the hull construction of a bulk carrier is given in Fig 1.3.

2.0 FABRICATION

At fabrication phase, steel plates and sections are brought into hull shop after surface
treatment and priming. The basic function normally involves plate joining, marking and
cutting, and bending. See Fig 2.0.
Plates are usually joined by submerged arc welding (SAW) machine.
NC flame cutting machines are normally used to cut plates for various ship parts and make
edge preparations. The machines also perform marking using zinc or plastic powder onto
plates to establish stiffener, frame, floor, bulkhead and other structure locations.
Curved plates are bent by presses or bending rollers or shape benders. Structural sections can
be bent by frame benders or beam benders. Complex shapes in the bow and stern could be
formed by combination of presses and heat line bending operations. See Fig 2.1.

3.0 SUB-ASSEMBLY

There are two main functions of sub-assembly phase. First, it consists of assembling
fabricated parts into suitable units. Second, it helps plan the work of avoiding difficult
welding positions and facilitate mechanised and automatic welding in the subsequent
assembly phase.
Examples of sub-assembly parts include girders, floors, transverses, web frame, etc.
The sub-assembly phase is an important one. It has a crucial effect on speed and efficiency of
the later phases (assembly, erection and outfitting). It governs the smooth progress of the
overall production schedule.
The sub-assembly works could be divided into material handling (crane), assembly tasks
(tacking, straightening and grinding) and welding. The sub-assembly parts are normally
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carried out on the conveyors to allow smooth production flow and equipped with essential
facilities such as mechanised welding equipment.

3.1 PANEL LINE CONCEPT

The use of panel line in the fabrication and subassembly of stiffened panels is based on the
principle of transporting material through individual station, each carrying out specific tasks,
namely Plate Storage, Plate Fitting/Welding, Marking/Cutting, Stiffener Mounting and
Stiffener Welding.

A typical flow pattern for a panel line for flat panel parts fabrication and subassembly (Fig
3.1) includes the following steps:

1. Plate Storage
Plates are transported to the panel line shop by transporters, cranes, conveyors, and stored at
shop entrance.

2. Plate Fitting and Welding

Plates are moved by conveyors to the fitting station, where they are fitted together and tack
welded. The panel is then moved to the seam butting-welding station where one-sided
submerged arc welding (SAW) by the flux copper backing (FCB) process is utilized to weld
plates normally in large modern shipyards. (See Fig 3.2). Many small and medium-size
shipyards weld their flat panels on both sides using a combination of SAW and FCAW.

3. Marking and Cutting

The welded plate is cut to size including opening holes using NC flame cutter at this station.
Stiffener locations are marked on the plate.

4. Stiffener Mounting and Welding

After stiffeners mounting and tacking (normally, max. 10 stiffeners) the panel is moved
within the reach of a fillet welding gantry with about 10 double fillet welding machines. The
gantry is movable parallel to the stiffeners. Welding is carried out using FCAW process.

Advantages of using panel line concept can be listed as follows;

 Increased productivity
 Improved utilization of floor area
 Improved quality
 Simplified planning of work procedures

4.0 ASSEMBLY

There are two main functions in the assembly phase. First, the finished sub-assembly parts
are gathered and assembled into hull blocks, which may form part of shell plates, decks,
bulkheads, double bottoms, etc. Second, it allows more stringent production and quality
control on the hull blocks, and it facilitates pre-outfitting and painting.
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The assembly phase is very important. It is very demanding in work area, and material
handling and transport capabilities. The overall capacity of hull construction is often
determined by the degree of productive efficiency realised in this phase. The assembly phase
has a crucial effect on planning, as it has to coordinate well with the pre-outfitting activities.
It also has a big effect on planning as to how blocks are organised and transferred efficiently
to the berth or dock.
Examples of hull blocks are double bottom, bilge block, shell block. See Fig 4.0. and 4.1.
The assembly works could be divided into material handling (crane), assembly tasks (tacking,
straightening and grinding) and welding in addition to pre-outfitting and painting.

In carrying out the assembly work, the blocks may be planned into different assembly groups
called block grouping. See Fig 4.2. The outline of the grouping is given as follows.

1. Flat Blocks (Parallel body blocks)

Most of the flat blocks are used in the parallel body which are mainly flat structure.
The plate joining is carried out with one-side automatic welding, and facilitate the use
of conveyor. The lattice framing method or the longitudinal pre-placing method could
be adopted to increase the efficiency of the assembly.

2. Curved Blocks
The curved blocks are used in the curved sections except in the bow and stern of the
ship body. Pin jigs or supports are needed to hold the blocks. With curved blocks
there are greater demands on the use of mechanised or automatic welding equipment
and dimension accuracy.

3. Solid Blocks
The solid blocks are planned for bow, stern and engine room bottom. The solid blocks
are generally complicated and place heavy demands on the use of mechanised or
automatic welding equipment, material handling and dimension accuracy.

4. Grand Assembly Blocks

The grand assembly blocks usually consist of 2 to 4 assembly blocks. Grand assembly
blocks are intended to create a larger block to allow for reduction of working time
needed for erection in the berth or dock. In some cases 4 to 7 blocks of superstructure
or engine room are assembled together to form a big grand assembly block. The grand
assembly blocks provide greater area and volume, which facilitate pre-outfitting and
painting.

5.0 ERECTION

This is the last phase of the hull construction where the hull blocks completed in the assembly
phase are erected and joined together in the building berth or dock.
In modern shipyards, the efficiency of the production at fabrication, sub-assembly and
assembly phases has been improved remarkably by adopting flow production technique and
investing in up to date material handling equipment (conveyor, crane, etc.) NC cutting and
bending machine, and mechanised and automatic welding equipment. Meanwhile, at the
erection phase, bigger and heavier blocks can be handled depend on the availability of bigger
capacity cranes. Mechanised or automated welding is used extensively during the joining of
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blocks. With greater emphasis on pre-outfitting, a lot work has been done before the erection
phase which facilitates better work efficiency.

The sequences of erection for any particular ship vary from shipyard to shipyard, and depend
on several factors. Block size is the most important consideration. This depends much on the
availability of maximum capacity of the crane. Another factor is whether the ship is erected
in the dock or building berth. Generally, it is a common practice to start in the region of
machinery spaces from the bottom upwards and from aft to forward. By starting at the
machinery spaces, it allows the engineers at an early stage to carry out the installation of the
shafting system and connection to the main machinery. An erection sequences for a bulk
carrier is shown in Fig 5.0 and 5.1.

The outline of the work involved in the erection phase includes:

Transferring of hull blocks near to building berth or dock, Erecting of blocks by cranes,
Scaffoldings placed at near joining edges, Positioning of blocks and cutting of joining edges,
fitting of blocks and performing welding, Inspection and testing of watertightness of the
joints before launching or floating out.

6.0 OUTFITTING

The outfitting works may include hull outfitting, machinery outfitting, piping outfitting,
electrical outfitting and accommodation outfitting.
For the purpose of differentiating outfitting into different phases of shipbuilding, it could be
divided into:
 On-unit Outfitting
 On-block Outfitting
 On-board Outfitting
Pre-outfitting (advanced outfitting) is another term frequently used and is usually referred to
as including both on-unit and on-block outfitting.

6.1 On-unit Outfitting

On-unit outfitting refers to an arrangement of fittings to be assembled in house, independent
of hull structure. For example, the unit consisting of auxiliary machinery as main component
along with pipes and valves is called auxiliary machinery on-unit; and the unit consisting of
pipes as major component along with valves is called pipe on-unit. On-unit outfitting of large
unit such as a complete engine control room on-unit is another example to enhance safety and
work efficiency, which would otherwise be allocated to outfitting on-block and on-board.

6.2 On-block Outfitting

On-block outfitting refers to the installing of fittings on the assembly blocks. The time for the
on-block outfitting work is generally after the completion of the assembly block inspection.
The blocks with the largest amount of outfittings are those in the engine room. Piping is the
largest outfitting items. Then come valves, spindles, auxiliary machinery, loose tanks,
ventilation trunks, electric wiring, railing, stairs, doors, etc. The advantages of on-block
outfitting as compare with on-board outfitting include reduction work period, ease of
installation, scaffoldings are minimum and work can be carried out more safely.
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6.3 On-board Outfitting
On-board outfitting refers to the installation of fittings during the erection phase and after
launching or floated out.
It requires a lot of coordinating and planning as many trades working on outfittings are
involved as well as the hull construction is still in progress. There are some fittings that
cannot be put in positions after the hull blocks are erected and this may require cutting out
part of the hull. Before launching or floated out, outfittings such as installing the rudder,
shafting system, main engine and the connecting piping to the hull must be completed.
After launching or floated out, outfitting works include cargo gear, mooring fittings, hatch
cover, wiring work, accommodation fittings.

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Ref: 1. Richard Lee Storch (Author), Colin P. Hammon (Author),
Howard McRaven Bunch (Author), and Richard C. Moore (Author),
(Second Edition in 1995), Ship Production, United States of America,
Cornell Maritime Press
2. D. J. Eyres (Author) and G. J. Bruce (Author), (7th Edition in 2012),
Ship Construction, UK, Elsevier Ltd

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