Feasibility, Conceptual Design and Optimization of a Large Composite Hybrid Hull; Final rept

摘要

A new ship hull structural concept is presented in the report, and feasibility of its application to large naval ship construction investigated. In this concept, the shell and decks are made up of hybrid steel-composite panels. The panels comprise of shallow-bent steel membrane with composite material filling the concave face of the membrane. FE analysis of a few variants of the panel reveals that the addition of composite material to the creased panels improves the buckling capacity; but in order to get a noticeable improvement, high performance composite materials are required. Creasing the panel changes its behavior in a significant way. The buckling strength is lower than with the flat plating, but it remains relatively constant if the thickness of the skin is reduced by significant amounts, unlike with conventional flat panels where the strength declines sharply with the reduction in plating thickness. The conclusions of the report are that the proposed hybrid hull concept is technically feasible but, due to the need for advanced materials, may result in very high hull cost.