MATERIAL USED

SHIPBUILDING
INTRODUCTION
 There is a wide range of materials used in shipbuilding
comprising ferrous metals, non- ferrous metals,
plastics, GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastics/ fiber glass)
and wood.
 The most widely used material in ship building
remains steel especially plain carbon or mild steel
approximately 90%.
 Properties of Steel
 Good metallurgical properties – to overcome
Brittle fracture and fatigue
 Reasonable good mechanical properties
Low carbon steel (mild steel) have tensile strength
of 400 to 490 MN/m2 and Yield strength of 235
MN/m2, and elongation of 15 to 20 %
 Susceptibility ease to join process by welding with
good control over weld defects

Cont-
 Reasonable cost
 Reasonably ease to cast
 Ability to be heat treated. Alloy elements can
also be use to change the character of steel:
- Carbon (0.18% to 0.28%) increases hardness
and strength but reduces ductility.
- Manganese (0.6% to 15%) increase tensile
strength, ductility and notch toughness
- Silicon (< 0.5%) increase hardness and tensile
strength without making welding difficult.
- Sulphur (>0.04 or 0.05%) improves
weldability and welding stresses
- Phosphorus (> 0.04 or 0.05%) reduces
ductility and toughness
 Grades of steel
 Grade A - White

 Grade B - Green

 Grade D - Red

 Grade E - Yellow

Cont-
 Grade A
 A mild steel used in the majority of the ship structures
of less than 20 mm thickness such as bulkheads, tank
top, non strength decks and superstructures
 Grade B

 A mild steel used for strength members of 20 to 25

mm thickness
 Grade D
 A ‘Notch-tough’ steel which resists the spread of cracks
and has higher strength.

 It is used for structure greater than 25 mm thick

 Grade E
 An ‘Extra Notch tough’ steel because this is a heat
treated Grade D steel used for very thick plating in
excess of 50mm thick.

 It is used for sheer strakes, bilge strakes, keels I.e. all

high stress regions of the ship
 Artic D
 A special grade of steels used where part of the
structure is subject to extremely low temperature.
 The Ultimate tensile strength is 435 to 510 NM/m2,
yield stress is 310 NM/m2 – 80% of UTS and absorbs 40
Joules of energy at - 55oC in a Charpy Impact test.
Normally used for icebreakers
Materials used in ships sea water systems

90/10 Cupro-nickel:
1. Resistant to high sea water velocities allowing
reduced tube diameters
2. Resistant to corrosion under stagnant flow
conditions and pitting
3. Resistant to clogging from marine growth
4. Ease of manufacture and welding
5. Reasonable cost
Stainless steel
1. Suffers from deep pitting in stagnant waters-if cleaned
regularly this pitting can be reduced
Expected life spans of some materials in
sea water:

 Galvanised steel- 6 to 9 years

 Copper- Maximum velocity (water flow) 4ft/sec
 90/10 Cupro-Nickel- 10yrs+
 70/30 Cupro-Nickel- 22 yrs+