BASIC FLAT PANEL CONSTRUCTION FOR MARINE APPLICATIONS

T ECHNICAL PAPER

ABSTRACT

Flat Panel Construction is now a widely used method to build large marine structures, which is an improvement developed in Scandinavia during the construction of the first large composite military vessels. The method consists in developing large vacuum tables where flat and curved panels are fabricated and then moved to the assembly shop where joints are then laminated. The process is similar to the heavy steel ship construction where block sections are partially built in different areas thereby speeding up the hull construction process. This paper describes the step by step process, which includes several lay-up techniques of extremely large flat panels, a comparison of the mechanical properties, and an evaluation of the cost factors. A list of detailed drawings showing mechanical assemblies and joints, and Finite Element Analysis of the distribution of stress is also presented. Thereby allowing the builder to chose from several options to achieve good looking shapes and lines. This paper also includes a set of applications and case histories in the marine and offshore industry.

INTRODUCTION The use of flat panel construction techniques became a popular method to build large GRP pieces without the need for tooling. This easy process helps the builders to assemble large and complex structures using flat or curved panels bonded by fiberglass tapes. This method allows the builder to assemble different parts at the same time. This is similar to the current ship building technology, where large parts of steel vessels are welded and moved to a secondary location, then jointed to make large blocks. The system allows the shipyard to have several work stations and then make the final assemble as the last step. Interior and finishing can be added to the blocks in a workstation to speed up the completion of the interior layout. Using the flat panel construction system, the shipyard layout must be designed to have a main flat panel workshop and couple of secondary workstations where parts are joined and bonded. The final assembly area is where all of the component blocks will be added to complete the construction of the vessel. The speed and cost advantage of this method can not be achieved by the conventional female mold construction, which is very popular on production pleasure boats. The negative point of the flat panel construction system is that it will not allow the builder to make panels with extreme curves and exotic shapes, which are very simple when using female molds, or male plugs. This method is more suitable for use on commercial and military crafts and parts where large flat panels are required such as boat decks, interiors, containers, and housing structures.

However some pleasure power craft, and sailboats can use this technique to make interior components, by using pre-fabricated panels from different workstations. Some boats also can be built using a method known as a constant camber system, where several curved panels with the same camber are laminated together with composite materials to make the complete hull shape. Some builders use this method by constructing small 48 x 32 inch panels and tabbing them all together to make larger sections on motoryachts. The basis of this process, is to construct large tables where the panels are built. If necessary the builder can have secondary tables with small and medium camber. This will allow him to make different types of panels for each boat location. The great advantage of this technique is that there is no limit to the size of the final parts, which can be build from a 4 x 8 foot panels. Lay up tables can be constructed on top of plywood pieces, or even a large wood floor, where Formica or any kind of textured surface can be added.

Fig.01 Helideck and Work Room in an Offshore Rig

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Fig.02 Large Deck made using Flat Panel

Fig.03 Flat Panels Manufacturer Yard

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MATERIALS

All the materials to make the panels must be first grade quality with proved water resistance. Facing materials are normally multi-axial fabrics with no thickness variation and a correct balance of fiber directions. Some of these materials are fabricated to allow perfect overlap with no addition of thickness. On the core side, most of the applications use lightweight closed cell materials between 4 to 6 lbs/ft densities. Some of wood cores can be used with 7 lbs/ft or less, or for non-critical weight panels, densities around 10-14 lbs/ft can be used. For vacuum assisted construction, core materials are supplied with small holes, and for injection, the material is produced with narrow or horizontal knife cuts to make it easier for resin infusion. Some other core materials can be used such as honeycombs, but may require special attention on the lay-up process. Most industrial panels made with honeycombs as the core, are made with prepregs which make the construction easier, but more expensive. The resin type can be polyester, vinyl ester or epoxy, depending on the size, operating temperature, and the final required panel mechanical properties. Some less expensive polyester products can make small panels but the facility to make large pieces only can be achieved with long gel time resins. The resin quality will allow the builder to select the correct panel size to lay-up or infuse the part in a one step process. The idea to use less expensive materials sometime can conflict with the lay-up technique, and will not necessarily produce a cost effective panel. An estimate of weight difference between the conventional steel panel construction and composite panel construction is around 10 times lighter for the same rigidity. Also the steel construction will require the addition of longitudinals and transverse stiffeners, plus corrosion resistant painting which will increase the final cost of construction. In production boats the use of these panels can replace heavy plywood structural bulkheads and floors. Just for a quick example: a inches plywood will weight 11 kg/m (aprox 1.03 lbs/sqf) against 4 kg/m (aprox. 0.37 lbs/sqf) of a PVC core composite inches panel. Considering an 80 ft ferry boat the total savings on bulkheads, decks and floors will be around 2,000 kg (aprox 4,400 lbs).

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LAMINATING TECHNIQUES

Hand Lay Up Technique Certainly this is the easiest process between all of them. The first step is to polish the lay up table. If the builder needs some external finishing he can use any top coat or gel coat on the table. After the gel coat cures, the builder can start to laminate the multi-axial fabrics with the selected resin. The second step is to place the core. Core is placed over the bonding adhesive that must be applied with a squeegee or spray process over the outer laminate. The core is compacted over the skin with a vibrator roll. The core must be squared or contoured to make the installation easy and avoid gaps between core and outer skin. A quality control system must be done by the adhesive marks along the core square lines. In this process, the adhesive curing time and core sheet joints must be observed for a perfect bonding over the skin surface. The third and last step is to laminate next multi-axial fabric over the core. Instead of hand lay-up of the fabrics on the table, the builder can use a fabric impregnator where the fabric is run through a resin tray with rollers to achieve the correct resin content. This improvement will allow better control of the glass/resin ratio on the panels as well speed up panel production.

Fig.04 Hand Lay Up Technique

Vacuum Bagging Technique Vacuum Bagging is a simple and well known process. The lay up system is similar to the hand lay up process since the laminator needs to place all the wet material over the table. The difference rely on the core installation. The process can be made in one step but needs to have a special resin formulation to allow long gel time to be able to build the panel in one curing cycle. Builder must have table ready and them lay up the outer skin, by hand lay up or with help of an impregnator, and place the core. Normally in these systems, the core is supplied with small knife cuts and holes (1/8
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inches diameter) to allow better vacuum distribution. An extra layer of resin or adhesive must be placed between the core and the skin. The inner skin is now placed over the core. The last step of the process is to bag the whole panel with a plastic film sealed on the overall perimeter of the table. Good procedures is to use a nylon peel ply on top of the last fiber layer and also a release film. Vacuum bagging consumable products are available from several different manufacturers depending the panels size, resin type and cure temperature requirements. The maximum pressure inside the envelope will reach 1 atm. This will allow a complete and uniform pressure distribution over the panel. The use of vacuum will improve fiber content and make a homogeneous bonding line between the core and faces.

Fig.05 Superestructure Vacuum Bagging

Fig.06 Flat Panel Vacuum Bagging

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VARTM Technique The lay up process using VARTM (Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding) is a method a little more sophisticated than the vacuum bagging system. The basic difference relies on the fact that all the panel components are laid down on dry form. In this system it is very important to select the correct fiber type to allow good resin flow. Most of the multi-axial manufacturers have a perfect type of material for the process. Core material is supplied with small knife cuts in a square pattern to make resin flow faster and decrease injection time. Some builders also use a special breather mesh to make the same role. There are extensive research on types of meshes and breathers to comply with each panel production and all they are available on the vacuum consumable manufacturers. Special attention must be given to resin selection to allow complete infusion over the complete length of the panel, and the chemical reaction between the core and the resin during curing cycle. Normally all these products are low viscosity and need some thermal treatment to achieve final mechanical properties. Also the temperature will speed up curing time and panel production. It is also possible to include the installation of longitudinal or transverse reinforcements during the infusion process. Some of these reinforcements are pre-fabricated and should be located on top of the last facing ply. There are a large selection of glass or carbon reinforcement shapes cored with close cell foam.

Fig.07 VARTM Sequence

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FLAT PANEL JOINTS

Joints of flat panels can be made by fiber laminating or even by making extrusions. On large structural pieces, tabbing with double-bias material is the easiest way to join the sections. Some panels can be laminated with scarfed ends to give a smooth tabbing surface. On the interior panels, the use of thermoplastic or aluminum extrusions are one of the best easiest way to join the panels. For high value luxury boats, this technique do not have an acceptable cosmetic appearance, but for some industrial application on marine structures they are very popular.

Fig.08 Flat Panels Joints and Inserts

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FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

Some of the problems faced by designers when dealing with large structures is the ability to design joints. There are no analytical approach which can offer reliable results. Most of the current techniques are based on previous experience. The use of Finite Element Analysis (FEM) in the design of structural plastics is not a new technique. It has helped designers and builders obtain a better underst anding of the complex problems that were not easily solved using conventional analytical methods. FEM is not an exact method, however approximate solutions can be achieved, which are acceptable for most engineering problems. The basic concept of FEM is to divide the structure to be analyzed into a set or several sets of structural components called finite elements. Each finite element has a specific structural shape and is interconnected with adjacent elements through nodal points. A set of equations can be formulated for each element which relates to the physical quantities. Assembling these equations to form the entire structure is equivalent to superimposing those equations mathematically. The result is a large set of simultaneous equations. By implementing various loads and boundary conditions, the assembled set of equations can be solved and the unknown parameters found. In most cases what designers look for is how stress is distributed and where maximum structure deformations occur. An example of the FEM method it is shown in set of FEM analysis of joints, a helicopter deck, and a composite shelter. Displacements listed on the samples are in milimeters (mm) and stresses in kg/mm. The corners and lay up were based on the use of solid multi-axial fabric laminates and PVC core material. As seen before there are a few different ways to join panels. The first five cases shows the analysis done for five different joints. These five joints can be used in industrial application in container and shelter joints or in marine application by deck-to-hull joints.

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Case 1: 90 deg Sandwich Laminate Corner Joint

Fig.09 Left: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacement Distribution

Case 2: 90 deg Single Skin Laminate Corner Joint

Fig.10 Left: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacement Distribution

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Case 3: 90 deg Single Skin Laminate Joint Corner with Rail

Fig.11 Left: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacement Distribution

Case 4: 90 deg Single Skin Laminate Joint Corner with Bracket

Fig.12 Left: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacemente Distribution

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Case 5: 90 deg Sandwich Laminate Joint Corner with Sandwich Fillet

Fig.13 Left: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacement Distribution

Case 6: Sandwich Laminate Heli-deck 40x40 with three 9500 lbs Concentrated Loads

Fig.14 Left: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacement Distribution

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Case 7: Sandwich Laminate 40 ft Container in Torsion

Fig.15 Left: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacement Distribution

Case 8: Sandwich Laminate 40 ft Container with Concentrated Load on Botton

Fig.16 Left:: Stress Distribution; Right: Displacement Distribution

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CONCLUSIONS The use of the Flat Panel Construction Method is widely used today to build marine components for both pleasure and commercial applications. The present techniques of panels production will be improved during next years to became a process more competitive against the other materials like wood and aluminum. The use of advanced composite materials can give the high strength needed for most of marine structures. The use of more sophisticated materials and construction methods were not described in this paper due to the intention to show a simple and fast method for young builders get these production method into their workshops. The use of FEM has a large influence to improve details and joints stress in order to make lighter structures.

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