Ship’ Construction

The goal is to present

midshipmen/cadets with an
overview of the structures and
make up of ship’s hull.
The first day of class

• The typical syllabus would be handed out and

my expectations of the class would be clearly
laid out.
• A list of reading assignments would be
presented for the entire trimester/semester.
Pupils are responsible for all reading
assignments. Whether covered in class or not.
First lecture thru the first week

• The professor would convene the class

and start a discussion about materials
used in construction of vessels. And the
list posted on the board.
• After the list is constructed a hand out
containing those is handed out.
• Hand outs for the student fill in
 Wood
Advantages
• Wood was primarily used in the 19th century
because it was abundant
• Wood floats
Disadvantages
• Wood burns
• Not uniformly strong
• Connections are not 100% efficient
• Limit on size of vessel at 300 due to longitudinal
bending
• Can not withstand massive machinery vibrations
(ex props on the stern)
 Iron
Advantages
• Although it is difficult to shape, strong joints could be
made by the use of rivets
• Very corrosion resistant
• It was uniformly strong (unlike wood)
• Much larger and stronger vessels could be built
• Stern frames could withstand vibrations of metal
propellers
Disadvantages
• Iron greatly disturbed the magnetic compass and
rendered them useless
• Hulls suffered from marine growth antifouling substance
was not effective because of the two different
metalsRust easily
 Steels

• Mild Steel – Steel with a carbon content

between .16% and .23%. Higher tensile
strength and more ductile than wrought
iron. Typically used in the construction of
merchant ships
• Once cubic foot block of mild steel weighs
approx 490lbs.
• Flat plate - is the typical plate ordered from the
steel mill by “gauge”
• Rolled Plate – flat plate heated and rolled by
machinery to the desired curvature
• Furnace Plate –curvature is more than one
direction, the plate must be furnace, heated and
stamped by hydraulic hammers
 Special Steels
• Stainless Steel - very corrosion resistant but also very
expensive. Sometimes used to for the inner coatings of
tanks that will very corrosive liquids or cargoes or liquid
foods (i.e. wine, citrus fruit)
• Nickel Steel Alloy – In the past used as armor plating
• High Tensile Steel – This type of steel has less carbon
more manganese and is 25% stronger than mild steel.
Used in the construction of warships to save weight.
Over the past 20 years it has also been used in the
construction of merchant ships for main strength
members such as keel assembly and traverse frames.
• Castings – used since the bronze age, process
in which brass, bronze, steel, aluminum is
heated until molten and then poured into a
mold of the desired shape.
• Aluminum – became cheap enough to use
after WWII (1945). Some alloys approach the
strength of mild steel but most only have 30%-
50% the tensile (stretching) strength of steel.
• Bronze – an alloy of copper and tine. Used on
the ship’s bell and more importantly the
propeller. Bronze is used or some alloy mostly
of bronze: a nickel-aluminum bronze or
manganese-aluminum bronze. 1)It does not
rust, 2)when molten it easily pours into a mold
to form a complex shape of a propeller. 3)
Easier to machine down to exact shape, pitch
and balance required for the rotation of prop.
Stresses and strain on Material

• Load – Total force acting on a structure

expressed in units of weight (i.e.. Tons)
• Stress – The total force acting on a unit
of the structure (such as tons per square
inch.)
• Strain – When the stress is excessive, the
material in the structure may be
permanently distorted and thus weakened.
 Types of Stresses
• Tensile Stress – when two ends of a material
are pulled apart
• Compressive Stress – This type of stress
occurs when the material is crushed or the two
ends of the material are pushed together
• Shear Stress – This Occurs when the parts of a
structure try to slide apart due to either tension
compression
• Bending Stress – These are the compound
stresses because they include tensile,
compressive and shearing stresses.
 Review

• Name 4 different types of material used in

construction of vessels.
• What are the positives and negatives of
each?
• Name four types of stresses on material
used in the construction of the vessel.
Stresses applied
above the yield
point will distort
the steel. This
happened when
stress is applied
after the elastic
limit.
Safety Factors used by naval
architects when designing vessels
• When designing a vessel on the drawing board it
is not foreseeable the stresses a vessel might
endure. So a safety factor is used to enable the
vessel to endure the strains outside normal
cargo carrying capabilities, poor construction or
low quality materials used in construction.
• The naval architect is require by the
classification society to us a safety factor of 4
• In the previous diagram the ultimate strength is
32 tons PSI. Thus no strength member should
exceed 32 tons PSI / 4 safety factor= 8tons PSI
Stresses on Ships
Primary or Hull Girder stresses that
affect the entire ship.
• Hogging or Sagging - Caused by weight
distribution and large waves passing by the ship
as it moves through the water
• Racking Stress – caused by large waves
striking the vessel athwart ship
• Dry-Docking – The flat keel and the bilge
strake must support the weight of the ship when
it is out of the water. Problems arise when
there is cargo or fuel on board during dry
docking.
Local Stresses Affecting certain
local area, not the entire structure.
• Panting –this is the in and out motion of shell plating due to
successive bow waves and the pitching of the ship, both of which
cause fluctuations of water pressure on the shell plating
• Pounding – This occurs when the ship is pitching and the bottom
lifts clear of the water and then pounds or slaps down on the
surface. The stress is primarily in the immediate area of the
forefoot of the stem but the vibration is felt throughout the vessel
• Water Pressure – This pressure increases proportionately with the
depth of water.
• Vibration – Due to machinery (such as a rotating propeller) and
the motion of a the ship in heavy seas
• Excessive localized loads – decks must be strengthened using
thicker plating, girders or beams. Use of dunnage to spread out the
load across the surface area for heavier equipment
Students read the following for
next class
• Shapes for structural members and the
benefits they offer in contrast
• Methods of Connecting structural
members
• Types of Keels
 Pop Quiz

• A sample quiz will now be handed out

Commit to memory the following
diagram
There are three types of floors that
are used in the double bottom
construction
Transverse Framing Systems

• Traverse Frame Systems- consists of many

closely spaced (2-4ft apart) traverse
frames and deck beams to support the
shell and deck plating. Typically used in
break bulk freighters, containerships and
other ships where the deadweight
tonnage is not excessive and large
interrupted cargo spaces are required.
Longitudinal Frame System

• Consist of many closed longitudinal

supports that brace the bottom and side
plating. These “longitudinals” are
reinforced by a few widely spaced deep
transverse floors. This system is primarily
used for bulk and tank ships where great
amount of deadweight must be carried. A
variation of this design is used to
construct double hull vessels
Complete figure VI-19 Cross
Section of Ship’s Hull
• Review in Class Discussion
Bulkheads and Compartmentation

• Modern merchant ships are divided by watertight

traverse bulkheads. Transverse bulkheads provide
several important functions. 1) Aid ship resist racking
stress 2) Divide the hull into numerous watertight
compartments to limit the extent of flooding in the event
of a collision or grounding. 3) Act as a fire break to
prevent, or at least slow the spread of fire by
convection. 4)Can be used to separate cargoes 5) allow
for flexibility for forced flooding in the case of flooding
6) tank ships are required to have a cofferdam between
the cargo tanks and the engine room.
 The Collision Bulkhead
• A watertight transverse bulkhead 1/20 of the length along
the waterline L.W.L aft of the forward perpendicular. The
function of this bulkhead is to limit the flooding in the event
of collision or other damage to the bow structure. A similar
bulkhead is constructed 1/20th of the L.W.L. forward of the
after perpendicular (known as the after peak bulkhead)