Projects

Optimum Structural Design of Ship Made from Advanced Fibre Reinforced Plastic Materials (COMPOSITES)

Duration: 01.10.1994 – 30.09.1997 (36 months)

Coordination: University of Southampton (UK)

Partners: Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal), Technical University of Denmark (Denmark), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain) and University of Hamburg (Germany).

Funding Entity: EU HUMAN MOBILITY Programme

The strategic objective of the proposed research is the development of improved and integrated design procedures on the basis of refined analytical models, results from experiments and comparison of static strength with long-term behaviour under fatigue loading. The scope of research tasks cover stiffened plate panels forming the midship or strength section of the ship, joints between bulkheads and shell plating, joints between stiffeners and plates, static/fatigue performance and single-skin and sandwich topologies. The specific aims of the research are: - to develop a procedure for the analysis of anisotropy, laminated plates and shells, - to understand load (and failure) paths around bonded joints bulkheads/stiffeners and plating through static and fatigue testing and theoretical modelling, - to combine the analytical procedure of (a) with the fundamental understanding of (b) resulting in a technique to synthesize the midship section of a ships structure, - to demonstrate the application of the model to typical, practical ship design problems.

Project Team

Associated Publications