General information on shipbuilding materials

Numerous materials are used in shipbuilding, and metals, wood and plastics should be regarded as the basic ones. Each of the materials in use possesses definite chemical, physical and mechanical as well as technological properties which are crucial in determining their application in shipbuilding.

These properties, in accordance with the technical specifications, are to be achieved during material manufacturing and taken into account during creation of the ship structures.

Each batch of material delivered to a shipbuilding plant, regardless of accompanying documents - certificates certifying its quality - undergoes chemical, mechanical and technological tests at the plant once again.

In metal shipbuilding, steel https://www.zalivdesign.com/services/steel-outfitting/ is the basic material for hull structures construction. Low-alloyed steels with considerably higher strength properties in comparison with carbon steel are used basically in the marine shipbuilding industry. Integration of alloyed steels in equal-strength structures enables to reduce intrinsic weight of the vessel's hull. Transition from riveted to welded structures, replacement of labor-consuming and complicated large-size cast parts (stem, stern, brackets, rudder frames, etc.) with welded (from plate and section steel) and plate-welded ones became possible due to creation of new steel grades, which are well welded and have increased strength, and some of them, besides, possess high casting qualities.

One of the basic mechanical properties of the material is the yield strength (bt) which is included in the strength design formulas for ship structures (and therefore, determines their weight).

Carbon shipbuilding steels, cast iron, light alloys, nonferrous metals, plastics, etc., are used for manufacture of other, less critical hull structures.