Contents

KEEL........................................................................................................................................... 2
Single Bottom Structure............................................................................................................. 2
Pillars............................................................................................................................................ 6
Spacing of the pillars.................................................................................................................... 6
Construction.................................................................................................................................. 6
Ship Building Quality Steel......................................................................................................... 9
The Composition..................................................................................................................... 9
Special Shipbuilding steels............................................................................................................ 9
Heat Treatment of Carbon Steel................................................................................................. 9
Aluminum Alloy........................................................................................................................... 10
Al Alloy Tests......................................................................................................................... 10
Classes, Rules and Regulations and IACS..............................................................................13
Rules and regulations of the Classes.................................................................................... 13

The main ship structural assemblies are:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Bottom structure
Side structure
Deck structure
Bulkheads

Bottom Structure

KEEL

is located at the center line of the bottom structure and are the backbone of the ship.
Contributes substantially to the longitudinal strength and distributes local loading caused by docking.
Commonest form is flat plate keel which is fitted in ocean-going vessels.
Bar keel is used in small vessels (e.g. trawlers, tugs).
When double is fitted, flat plate type is always used.
Duck keel is provided in some double bottoms of some vessel. It carries the double-bottom piping.

Single Bottom Structure

In smaller vessel having single bottom, the vertical plate floors are fitted at every frame space
and are stiffened at their upper edge.
A centerline girder is fitted and one side girder is fitted each of the center line when beam is
less than 10m.
When the beam is larger, two side girders may be fitted and additional continuous or intercostal
girders, which are stiffened at their upper edge may also be fitted.
A wood ceiling may be fitted across the floors but this does not constitute an inner bottom
offering any protection if the outer bottom is damaged.

Double Bottom
The double bottom is composed of outer and inner watertight bottom plating to provide
complete watertight integrity should the outer shell plating be damaged
The double bottom space is utilized to carry oil fuel and fresh water as well as providing
the required ballast capacity.
The minimum depth of the double bottom depends on the size of the vessel and is
determined by the rule requirements of classification societies.
The actual depth is sometimes increased in places to provide adequate capacity of the
double-bottom tanks.
The increase in the inner bottom height is always made by a gradual taper in the
longitudinal direction
to avoid sudden discontinuities in the structure.
One or two side girders, which could be either continuous or intercostal, are fitted port
and starboard depending on the width of the ship.
Intercostal girders or side girders, and plate floors will have lightening holes at regular
intervals to reduce the structural weight, and will have manholes to provide access.
Transversely Framed Double Bottom
This is used in ships of length less than 120 meters
Is made up of vertical floors which may be watertight, solid or of bracket construction.
Flat plate keels are used in these structures.

Bulkheads
Vertical partition in a ship arranged transversely or fore and aft are referred to as bulkheads.
Function
They are of greatest importance are the min hull transverse and longitudinal bulkheads, diving
the ship into a number of watertight compartments and supporting the external and structural
transverse loading.
They provide support for deck and bottom girders and longitudinal, resisting any tendency for
transverse deformation of the ship.
The main hull bulkheads of sufficient strength are made watertight in order that they may
contain any flooding in the event of a compartment on one side of the bulkhead being bilged or
breached.
Bulkheads are effective for containing fires.
Spacing(location) of watertight bulkheads or
For cargo ship, a collision bulkhead (in forward), an aft peak bulkhead and watertight
bulkheads must be fitted at each end of the machinery space.
The minimum number of transverse bulkheads is three when the ship has an aft
engine room and four when the engine room is not at the aft end.
For collision bulkhead, a heavy bulkhead is specified and located so that it is not so far forward
as to be damaged on impact. (minimum distance is 10m form fore end)
The aft peak bulkhead is intended to enclose the stern tubes in a watertight compartment,
preventing any emergency form leakage where the propeller shafts pierce the hull.
Machinery bulkheads provide a self-contained compartment for boiler and engines, preventing
damage to these vital components of the ship by flooding in an adjacent hold.
Each of the main bulkhead may extend to the uppermost continuous deck.
The strength of the transverse watertight bulkheads is maintained to the strength deck, which
may be above the freeboard deck.
For Bulk carriers, reduced freeboard necessitates further consideration into the spacing of the
watertight bulkheads.
Construction of bulkhead
Two types exist: plain and corrugated
Plain type: the plating of a flat transverse bulkhead is generally welded in horizontal strakes with the
thickness increases with depth.
Vertical stiffening is provided in the form of welded inverted angle bars or OB.

The stiffeners may be supported by horizontal stringers to reduce in the scantling as a result of reduce
span.
The boundaries are double continuously filled welded directly to the shell decks and tank top.

Pillars

Function
The primary function is to carry the load of the decks and weights upon the decks
vertically down to the ships bottom structure where these loads are supported by the upward
buoyant forces. Pillars in cargo holds fulfill the function and are in compression without bracket
connections at their ends.
The second one is to tie together the structure in a vertical direction. Pillars in the
machinery spaces serve this function and are heavily bracketed at their ends to permit tensile
loadings.
Hold pillars may be used as main structural elements to reduce the scantling of the deck
transverses and deck girders by reducing the effective spans of these heavy structural
members.

Spacing of the pillars

Since pillars in holds will interfere with the stowage arrangements, widely spaced pillars
of large section are used.
Common arrangement is two-row system, with pillars at the hatch corners mid-length of
hatch supporting deck girders adjacent to the hatch sides.
As the deck girder size is to some extent dependent on the supported span, where only a
mid-hatch length pillar is fitted the girder scantlings will greater than that where two hatch
corner pillars are fitted.
Pillars can be eliminated if a clear space is to be provided, but the deck girder will be
larger and may be supported by webs at the bulkhead.

Construction
Hold pillars are primarily subjected to compression
Ideal section is the tubular. Hollow rectangular and octagonal sections are also used.
Pillars have a bearing fit and it is important that the loads at the head and heel of the
pillar should be well distributed.

Deep Tank

Ship Building Quality Steel

The following steels are predominantly used in shipbuilding

Rolled plain steel (for plates and profiles , foundation, etc.)

Rolled special steel (high-tensile steel, low-temperature steel for LNG tanker,
corrosion resistance for product tanker, non-magnetic steel for compass area)
Cast steel (rudder, stern, stem)
Forged steel (for anchors, chains, etc.)

IACS graded the steels into five different qualities (Grade A, B, C, D, E) with Grade A
being an ordinary mild steel to LR requirement. Grade B is better quality and used when thicker
plates are required in the more critical regions. Grade C, D, E possess increasing notch-tough
characteristics, with Grade C being ABS requirements.
Grades A,B,D,DS,CS, and E are most extensively used.

The Composition
The microstructure of shipbuilding steels consists of iron-carbide(cementite)
dispersed in a matrix of ferrite. Steel for hull structure is mild steel(0.15%-.23%C) with high Mn
content. Both S and P are kept to a minimum (<0. 05%).Higher concentrations of both are
detrimental to the welding properties of the steel.
Rimmed Steels

Produced without deoxidizers

Semi-killed
Steels
Killed Steels

Partially oxidized
Produced with strong deoxidizing
agents

Poor quality
Not used as hull steels in thickness
over 13mm
Better quality
Used as hull steels
Best quality

Special Shipbuilding steels

1.High Tensile Steel
They are employed in the more highly stressed regions of larger tankers, container
ships and bulk carriers. They allow reductions in thickness but lead to larger
deflections.
They contain Al, Nb and V as additives .
2. Corrosion-resistance Steel
Used in cargo tanks containing highly corrosive cargoes.
3.Abrasion-resistance Steel
Used in cargo holds of bulk carriers
4.Steels for low temperature
Used where extraordinary cooling effects exist (e.g. in refrigeration ships and LNG
carriers)

Heat Treatment of Carbon Steel

1. Annealing

Steel is heated slowly to 850-950 C and then cooled at a very slow rate.
This will relieve any internal stresses, soften the steel and bring the steel to a
condition suitable for another heat treatment.
2. Normalizing
Steel is heated as in case of annealing but cooled in air.

Because of faster cooling, a harder stronger steel (than annealing produces) with
refined grain size is obtained.
3. Quenching (or Hardening)
Steel is heated as in case of annealing and normalizing but cooled in water or oil.
This produces a very hard structure with a higher tensile strength.
4. Tempering
Quenched steel is further heated up to 680 .C and cooled fairly rapidly. This will
relieve the severe internal stresses produced by the original hardening process
and to make the material less brittle but retain the higher tensile stress.
5. Stress relieving
To relieve internal stress, steel is heated that no structural changes are occurred
and slowly cooled.

Aluminum Alloy
The advantages of Al alloy over the steel are

Low density
High strength-to-weight ratio
Corrosion resistance in certain environment
Retention of toughness at low temperature
Non-magnetic (useful for naval ships)
A major disadvantage is higher initial cost and fabrication costs.

The alloys have relatively low melting points and tend to lose strength rapidly upon
exposure to elevated temperature. (must use appropriate insulation)
Al alloys are frequently used in superstructure, and for entire hull structure of some
ferries and small boats.
Non-heat-treatable Al-Mg alloys of 5XXX series are widely used for marine structures.
A heat-treated Al alloy containing Mg and Si is suitable for shipbuilding.
Heat-treatable Al alloys such as 6061-T6 have higher ultimate tensile strength than nonheat-treatable but the strength and corrosion resistance in the vicinity of welds are degraded by
the heat of welding.
Al alloys are anodic to steel and could lead to aluminum sacrificing.
It is difficult to join two metals avoiding corrosion.
Either bolted connections with washers or an explosively bonded steel/aluminum
transition piece can be used.

Al Alloy Tests
Al alloy plate and sections are subjected to tensile tests and bar Al, to a tensile test and
dump test.
Dump test requires compression of the bar until its diameter is increased to 1.6 times of
the original without cracks.

Structural Integrity of the ship

Ship structures can be classified into

Primary Structure which resists the global bending of the vessel due to bending.
Secondary Structure which resists either large areas of hydrostatic loads or transfer the
tertiary loads to primary structure.
Tertiary Structure which resists local hydrostatic pressure and/or point loads

The structure integrity of a ship can refer to

1. Strength
A ship must resist loads
Static Loads (e.g. weights, buoyancy)
Low frequency Dynamic loads (e.g. quasi static load, wave load)
High frequency Dynamic loads (e.g. vibrations)
Impact loads (e.g. blast, collisions)
2. Stiffness
A ship must resist deflections and deformations to a minimum extent
3. Water tightness (must float)
4. Provide subdivision (tolerance to damage of strength and stiffness)
5. Support payloads
The integrity is achieved only if above criteria are fulfilled and if not the integrity is said
to be impaired.

Classes, Rules and Regulations and IACS

International Association of Classification Societies is held by twelve leading classification
societies.
1
2
3
4
9

DNV GL
BV
LR
CCS
NK

5 ABS
6 KR
7 RINA
8 RS
1 CRS
0
1 PRS
1 IRS
1
2
IACS is the only non-governmental organization with the observer status at IMO able to
develop rules. {It endeavors to ensure that IMO technical or procedural requirements are easily
applicable and less ambiguous.}
The government body of IACS is the council, which considers and adopts unified
requirement (URs) and unified interpretations (UIs) of international codes and conventions.
Typical examples of UR are

Minimum longitudinal strength standard

Fire protection of machinery spaces
Use of steel grades for various hull members

Rules and regulations of the Classes

The classification society(CS) is responsible to assure that the ships and marine
structures presented to it comply with Rules and Regulations that it has established for design,
construction and periodic surveys.
The CS each publish rules and regulations concerning
1. strength and structural integrity of the ship
2. provision of the adequate equipment
3. reliability of the machinery
Ships are built in accordance with Rules and Regulations of a CS in a procedure involving:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Technical plan review

Surveys during construction
Acceptance by the Classification Committee
Subsequent periodic surveys for maintenance of class

{The Certificate of Class is issued upon completion of construction.}

Periodic surveys

To maintain the assigned class, the vessel has to be examined by the society
surveyors at regular periods.
At annual surveys, the general conditions of the vessel (e.g. the freeboard mark,
closing appliances, watertight doors, structural fire protections, etc.) are assessed.
In-water survey may be acceptable in lieu of docking if high-resistance paint has
been applied
Special surveys are due at five-yearly intervals with the amount of inspections
increasing as the vessel ages.

Testing of Material
Strength=ability to resist deformation
Hardness=ability to resist abrasion
Toughness=ability to absorb energy
Ductility=ability to be deformed before it fails
Ship structures are designed to work within the
elastic range and much lower than the ultimate
tensile strength to allow for safety factor

Stress and strain curve of mild steel

CS Tests for hull materials
1) Tensile Test
A specimen is subjected to an axial pull and a minimum yield stress, ultimate tensile
stress and elongation are obtained.
2) Impact Test
Charpy-V or Charpy-U notch test is specified at a specific test temperature to determine
the toughness.

3) Hardness test
It is carried out by indenting the surface with an indenter having a specific geometry
under a specified load and resulting impression is examined. Softer material will indent
more.
4) Fatigue test
S-N curve is obtained by rotating-bending test. For steel fatigue limits range from 35% to
60% of the tensile strength.
5) Al Alloy Tests

Al alloy plate and sections are subjected to tensile tests and bar Al, to a tensile test and
dump test. Dump test requires compression of the bar until its diameter is increased to
1.6 times of the original without cracks.

Stress On a Ship
The stresses a ship experienced are
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Still water bending stresses Hogging and

Wave-induced bending stresses
Racking stresses
Torsion stresses Transverse
Panting stresses stresses
Pounding stresses
Buckling stresses Local
stresses

1.Still water bending stresses

Even though total buoyancy and weight are in balanced, but they are non-uniform, which
results in vertical shear forces.
A vessel with excess weight amidships will sag (deck in compression and bottom shell in
tension).
A vessel bending in the reverse manner is said to be hog.

Bending stress is

M
y
I

The greater the second moment of area[I], the lesser the bending stress will be.
varies as the depth squared and so a small increase in depth of section will reduce the
bending stress.

Z
y

, where Z is the section modulus. section modulus is the quantity through which
the designer can control the maximum hull girder stress and safety factor.

2.Wave-induced Bending stress

As a wave passes by a vessel, the worst hogging moment
will occur when the midship is on the crest of a wave and
the bow and stern are in the troughs. The worst sagging
moment will happen when the bow and stern are on two
crests, with the midship in the trough between.
Whether for sagging or hogging, the worst condition will
occur when the wavelength is close to the vessel length.

3.Racking Stress

When a ship is rolling, the deck tends to move laterally relative to the
bottom structure and the shell on one side to move vertically relative to
the other side.
Transverse bulkheads resist racking

4.Torsion
.

A ship heading obliquely (45 ) to a wave will be

subjected to righting moments of opposite direction
at its ends, twisting the hull and putting it in torsion.
A heavy torsion box girder structure including the
upper deck resist the torsion

5.Panting stress
It is caused by the fluctuating pressures on the hull
at the ends and causes the shell plating to work in
and out.
It is severe when the vessel is running into waves
and pitching heavily.

6.Pounding
Pitching occurs in the bottom of the foreship as a result of heaving pitching of the
ship,which can be reduced by increasing the bottom-plating thickness .
It is most severe in a lightly ballasted condition.

7.Buckling stresses
Buckling may occurs at a stress level a lot lower than the yield stress. The load at which
buckling will occurs is a function of the structures geometry and the materials E.

Weldability
Ordinary strength shipbuilding steels are readily weldable.
Stainless steels are readily weldable by GMAW, GTAW, FCAW or SMAW using filler wires of
compatible composition.
Al alloys used in marine can be welded with GMAW or GTAW or FSW but GMAW is used more b/o
higher speed.
When joining the common metals such as stainless steel to carbon and Al to carbon steel,
galvanic corrosion must be considered.
Al is not weldable to steel by conventional methods. An intermediate composite plate material
(l consisting of Al and steel), which is manufactured by explosion bonding techniques.

Welding Advantages
For the shipbuilder
1.
2.
3.
4.

Welding lends itself to the adoption of prefabrication techniques.

Easier to obtain water tightness and oil tightness.
Joints are produced quickly
Less skilled labor is required.

For the ship-owners

1. Reduced hull steel weight ( More Deadweight)

2. Less maintenance
3. Smooth hull which results in reduction of skin friction resistance

Welding Processes used in Shipbuilding

Welding Processes generally used in Shipbuilding

Arc
weldin
g

1. Gas Welding
2. Shield metal arc welding(SMAW)
3. Gas Metal arc welding(GMAW)
4. Submerged arc welding(SAW)
Slag-shielded
5. Flux Core Arc welding(FCAW)
6. Stud welding(SW)
7. Tungsten inert gas welding(TIG) or(GTAW)
8. Metal inert gas welding(MIG)
Gas-shielded arc
9. Plasma welding
welding
10.Electro-slag welding(ES)
11.Electro-gas welding(EW)
12.Laser welding
13.Thermit welding
14.Fusion-stir welding(FSW)

1. Gas welding
Gas welding normally use oxyacetylene flame (3000 .C).
It is slower than other fusion welding processes b/c
process temperature is lower than metal melting
temperature.
The welding is obsolete nowadays in ship building.

2. SMAW
It is a process where heat is produced by an electric arc between a covered metal
electrode and the work.
3. GMAW
It is an automatic or semi-auto process in which a welding arc is formed between the
work and bare electrode, which is continuously feed from the spool.
GMAW is the most important welding technology in shipbuilding.
4. SAW
It is semi-auto or auto process where an arc is maintained between a continuous fed
spool and a work area.
The welding zone is completely buried and shielded under a flux from a feed tube.
5. SW
An arc is kept between stud and the work and heated for a time.
The stud is brought to the work by spring pressure.
It is used to attach studs, clips and hangers and insulation pins to structural members.
6. TIG or GTAW or TAGS
The arc is drawn between a water-cooled non-consumable tungsten electrode and the
plate and shielded by inert gas.
7. MIG or MAGS
Similar to TIG, but electrode is consumable metal wire.
8. Plasma Welding
Similar to TIG, but the tungsten electrode is within the body of the torch and the plasma
arc is forced through a fine-bore copper nozzle. Three modes can be achieved
Micro plasma
Medium current
Keyhole plasma
9. ES and EW
Are high-deposition rate process
Cause a greater degree of grain growth in HAZ and require local normalizing treatment
afterwards.
ES
Used for heavy casting structure components such as stern frame.
Current passes into the weld pool through the wire.
Welding is achieved by resistance path heating through the flux.
EW
It is arc welding with features of gas-shield welding and ES.
Used for welding thick plates with square or vee edge preparations.
10.Laser Welding
CO2 laser and Nd: YAG laser
The laser beam focuses via mirrors on the surface of the work piece. After reaching the
vaporization temperature, a steam capillary is formed in the work. This allows deep,
narrow welds with practically parallel sides with small thermic loads and small brittle
Heat Affected Zone.
Used for sandwich panel structures.

11.Thermit welding
Used to join large steel sections such stern frame.
It is a fusion process heated by a mixture of powdered Al and iron oxide.
12.Friction stir welding
It is a solid state process that relies on the friction between two parts to generate heat to
soften the metal and provide a joint.
Currently used only for welding Al alloy plates for high-speed crafts and honeycomb
panels.