On Application of Aluminium in Ship Hulls

摘要

Aluminium is an attractive material as it is light, strong, clean, normally ductile, easily formed and fabricated, and readily available. It is recyclable and thus environment friendly. The accumulated experience of many years shows that aluminium alloys of "marine" grade offer both safety and reliability for use in marine structures. In this paper, and overview of aluminium alloys and their major mechanical properties is presented, focusing on alloys for use in ship structures. Structural design aspects are addressed with respect to assembly, imperfections, deformation, ultimate strength, fatigue and fire resistance. Existing design requirements for aluminium ship hulls are discussed. The merits of applying aluminium alloys in ship hulls in conjunction with challenging problems the aircraft industry once faced call for more extensive research and development in this promising application area.