journal article·2001-07Open access

Review of advanced composite structures for naval ships and submarines

A.P Mouritz, E Gellert, P Burchill, K Challis

Composite Structures· Volume 53· Issue 1

Abstract

The recent applications of fibre-reinforced polymer composites to naval ships and submarines are reviewed. Since the mid-1980s the use of composites has increased considerably as the military strive to reduce the acquisition and maintenance costs and improve the structural and operational performance of naval craft. A wide range of new applications of composites to naval vessels are described, including their current and potential use in the superstructures, decks, bulkheads, advanced mast systems, propellers, propulsion shafts, rudders, pipes, pumps, valves, machinery and other equipment on large warships such as frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers. Potential applications of composites to submarines are also described, such as their possible use in propulsors, control surfaces, machinery and fittings. The growing use of composites in the complete construction of fast patrol boats, minehunting ships and corvettes is discussed. For each application the major benefits gained from using composites instead of conventional shipbuilding materials, such as steel and aluminium alloys, are identified. The paper also outlines the main drawbacks of using composites in naval vessels.
Source: openaire · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Mechanical Behavior of Composites · Material Properties and Applications · Mechanical Engineering and Vibrations Research

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

References (100+)

Show source-provided references
1. Down to sea in plastics
2. Bushby AC, Fyfe RA, Corkum FG, Frost WP, Alfers JB. Laminated glass plastic construction with special reference to boats. In: Proceedings of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 1952 February 26. p. 595–644
3. Progress on naval use of reinforced plastic piping10.1111/j.1559-3584.1953.tb03031.x ↗
4. Reinforced plastics a structural material for marine applications
5. Buermann TM, DellaRocca RJ. Fibreglass-reinforced plastics for marine structures. In: Proceedings of the Spring Meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 1960 June 26–28. p. 138–92
6. Plastics in ships
7. Durability of reinforced-plastic structural materials in marine service
8. Lindsay EM. Glass fiber-reinforced plastic as a marine structural material. In: Proceedings of the Second Marine Systems and ASW Conference, Long Beach, CA, 1966 August 8–10. Paper No. 66-699
9. A history of the construction of fibreglass boats for the Navy
10. Fibreglass boats in naval service10.1111/j.1559-3584.1966.tb05634.x ↗
11. Heller SR. The use of composite materials in naval ships. In: Mechanics of Composite Materials: Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on Structural Mechanics, 8–10 May 1967. Oxford: Pergamon Press. p. 69–11110.1016/B978-0-08-006421-5.50010-1 ↗
12. Marine applications
13. Summerscales J. Marine applications. In: Engineered materials handbook, vol. 1. Composites. Ohio: ASM International; 1987. p. 837–44
14. Use of fiber-reinforced plastics in the marine industry. Ship Structure Committee Report SSC-360. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service; 1990
15. Glass reinforced plastics in the Royal Navy
16. Naval applications of reinforced plastics
17. Sonar domes the merits of GRP
18. Lemiere Y. The evolution of composite materials in submarine structures. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Nautical Construction with Composite Materials, Paris, 1992 December 7–9. Paper 43
19. Selection of glass-reinforced plastics materials for large marine structures10.1002/pi.4980030101 ↗
20. Dixon RH. Ramsey BW, Usher PJ. Design and build of the GRP hull of HMS Wilton. RINA Symposium on GRP Ship Construction, London; 1972. p. 1–32
21. Smith · 1990
22. Schutz H. Aspects of materials selection for MCMV hulls. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mine Warfare Vessels and Systems, London, 1984 June 12–15. Paper 14
23. Lönnö A, Hellbratt S-E. Use of carbon fibre in a 63 m high-speed vessel, YS2000, for the Swedish navy. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Sandwich Construction, Southampton, 1995 September 12–15. p. 3–13
24. Mäkinen K, Hellbratt S-E, Olsson K-A. The development of sandwich structures for naval vessels during years. In: Vautrin A, editor. Mechanics of sandwich structures. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Netherlands; 1988. p. 13–2810.1007/978-94-015-9091-4_2 ↗
25. Remen W. The use of FRP sandwich. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Nautical Construction with Composite Materials, Paris, 1992 December 7–9. Paper 42
26. Potential for composites application in the marine industry. In: Proceedings of the National Conference on the Use of Composite Materials in Load-Bearing Marine Structures, Arlington, Virginia, 1990 September. p. 10–45
27. Sea duty for composites Adv Mater Process 1992;142(2):16–20
28. Sharpe · 1999
29. Smith CS, Monks AH. Design of high performance hulls in fibre-reinforced plastics. In: Proceedings of the Symposium on Small Fast Warships and Security Vessels, London, 1982 May. p. 95–110
30. Comparative analysis of metal and composite materials for the primary structure of a patrol boat10.1111/j.1559-3584.1996.tb01575.x ↗
31. Nguyen LB, Critchfield MO, Feasibility study and fabrication demonstration of FRP hull structures for naval surface combatants. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Marine Structures III, Dunfermline, 1997 May 20–23
32. GRP versus steel in ship construction
33. Harboe-Hansen H. Norway's new Skjold class FPBs. The Naval Architect 1996:54–5510.1093/cr/54.1.55 ↗
34. The Oksøy ckass MCNV
35. Norway's new FPB starts trials. Warship Technol 1999:6–7
36. Skjøld class comes in from the cold
37. The Skjold class fast patrol boat
38. SES patrol the Norwegian Navy's future
39. Building big in advanced composites
40. Fibreglass reinforced plastic minesweepers
41. Glass reinforced plastic developments for application to minesweeper construction10.1111/j.1559-3584.1971.tb04704.x ↗
42. Chalmers DW, Osburn RJ, Bunney A. Hull construction of CMVs in the United Kingdom. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mine Warfare Vessels and Systems, London, 1984 June 12–15. Paper 13
43. The Hunt class mine countermeasures vessels
44. Pitts EC, Dorey AL. Experience with the design of GRP MCM vessels. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mine Warfare Vessels and Systems, London, 1984 June 12–15. Paper 2
45. Design considerations for MCMV
46. Burnett R. Minehunters and minesweepers on stream for the next century. Naval Arch 1996:66–70
47. The Tripartite MCMV
48. The Tripartite MCMVs – a data update
49. The Eridan class: France's Tripartite minehunters
50. Wood G. The Belgian Navy's new KMV class of minesweeper. Naval Arch 1997:57–8
51. A new minehunter for the Swedish Navy
52. Sjögren J, Celsing C-G, Olsson K-A, Levander C-G, Hellbrat S-E. Swedish development of MCMV-hull design and production. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mine Warfare Vessels and Systems, London, 1984
53. Olsson K-A. GRP-sandwich design and production in Sweden. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Polymers in Defence, Bristol, 1987 March 18–20. Paper 3
54. Hellbrat S-E, Gullberg O. The development of the GRP-sandwich technique for large marine structures. In: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Sandwich Constructions, Stockholm, vol. 1, 1989 June 19–21. p. 425
55. Design and construction of GRP sandwich ship hulls10.1016/0951-8339(90)90006-D ↗
56. Rodholm IB, Standard Flex 300 An innovation in warship construction. In: Warship'90: RINA International Symposium on the Future for Surface Warships, London, 1990 June 4–610.3940/rina.warship.1990.9 ↗
57. A review of the design and materials evaluation program for the GRP/foam sandwich composite hull of the RAN minehunter10.1016/0010-4361(84)90707-9 ↗
58. Robson BL, The Royal Australian Navy inshore minehunter lessons learned. In: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Sandwich Constructions, Stockholm, vol. 1, 1989 June 19–21. p. 395–423
59. Trimming M. Monocoque GRP minehunters. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mine Warfare Vessels and Systems, London, 1984 June 12–15. Paper 17
60. Glassfibre reinforced plastic
61. Trimming M, Fantacci G, Buccianti A. US Navy minehunter coastal (MHC) OSPREY class. In: Proceedings of dings of the International Symposium on Mine Warfare Vessels and Systems, London, vol. 1, 1989 May 8–10. Paper 2710.3940/rina.warship.1989.27 ↗
62. Trimming MSK. Minehunter program. In: Proceedings of the Use of Composite Materials in Load-Bearing Marine Structures, vol. II, Arlington, VA, 1990 September 25–26. p. 1–9
63. The US Navy's new coastal minehunter (MHC): design, material, and construction facilities10.1111/j.1559-3584.1991.tb00938.x ↗
64. Smith CS, Rina F, Pattison D. Design of structural connections in GRP ships and boat hulls. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Designing with Fibre Reinforced Materials, London, 1977 September. p. 33–6
65. Dodkins AR. Design of displacement craft. In: Shenoi RA, Wellicome JF, editors. Composite materials in maritime structures, vol 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1993. p. 3–2510.1017/CBO9780511751844.003 ↗
66. Fabrication and testing of a prototype corrugated GRP hull
67. Chaplin JB. The application of air cushion technology to mine countermeasures in the Unites States of America. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mine Warfare Vessels and Systems, London, 1984 June 12–15. Paper 19
68. Transient load monitoring on a composite hull ship using distributed fibre optic Bragg grating sensors10.1117/12.275763 ↗
69. Johnson GA, Vohra ST, Danver BA, Pran K, Havsgard GB, Wang G. Vibration monitoring of a ship waterjet with fibre Bragg grating. In: Proceedings of OFS-13, Kyongja, Korea, 1999. p. 616–1910.1117/12.2302002 ↗
70. Johnson GA, Pran K, Wang G, Havsgard GB, Vohra ST, Structural monitoring of a composite hull air cushion catamaran with a multi-channel fibre bragg grating sensor system. In Chang F-K, editor. Structural Health Monitoring 2000. Lancaster, PA: Technomic Publications; 1999. p. 190–98
71. Pran K, Havsgard GB, Palmstrom R, Wang G, Johnson GA, Danver BA, Vohra ST, Sea-test of a 27 channel fibre Bragg grating strain sensor system on an air cushion catamaran, Kyongju, Korea, OFS-13; 1999. p. 145–4810.1117/12.2302121 ↗
72. Sweden's YS2000 corvette: bigger by design. Marit Defence 1995:219–20
73. The Swedish YS-2000 corvette programme. Naval Arch 1996:55
74. A future built around stealth: YS2000 and Sweden's future surface fleet. Marit Defence 1996:54–60
75. Carbon fibre composite for Sweden's next generation corvette
76. Preston A. Swedish Navy's first YS2000 corvette laid down. Naval Arch 1997:48
77. Lönnö A. Experiences from using carbon fiber composites/sandwich constructions in the Swedish Navy. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Sandwich Construction, Stockholm, 1998 June 9–11. p. 31–43
78. Lönnö A. The Visby class corvette: the worlds biggest CFRP-sandwich ship. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Offshore and Marine Composites, Newcastle, UK, 2000 April 5–6
79. Lyons D. The use of high ductility core material in the sandwich structure of the YS2000 Visby class corvette. In: Proceedings of ACUN-2, Sydney, 2000 February 14–18. p. 710–13
80. Mayes S, Scott B. Advanced all-composite surface combatant. In: Proceedings of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) Symposium, vol. 1, Biloxi, Mississippi, 1995. p. 16–17
81. Mayes S, Scott B. Advanced all-composite surface combatant. In: Proceedings of the American Society of Naval Engineers ASNE Symposium, vol. 2, Biloxi, Mississippi, 1995. p. 73–112
82. Mulligan RD, Courts MD. Corvette design considerations. In: Proceedings of Warship'98: International Symposium on Surface Warships: The Next Generation, London, 1998 June 11–12. Paper No. 610.3940/rina.sw.1998.12 ↗
83. Harboe-Hansen H. Rauma 2000 – the new Finnish fast attack craft. Warship Technol 1998:11
84. Rauma 2000 FAC on trials with Finnish Navy. Warship Technol 1999:15
85. Use of adhesives in repair of cracks in ship structures10.1179/mst.1988.4.10.853 ↗
86. Grabovac I, Pearce PJ, Camilleri A, Challis K, Lingard J. Are composites suitable for reinforcement of ship structures? In: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Composite Materials, Paris, 1999 July 5–9
87. Le Lan JY, Parneix P, Gueguen PL, Composite material superstructures. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Nautical Construction with Composite Materials, Paris, 1992 December 7–9. p. 399–11
88. Composite materials and naval surface combatants: the integrated technology deckhouse project10.5957/jsp.1992.8.1.1 ↗
89. Smith CS, Chalmers DW. Design of ship superstructures in fibre-reinforced plastic. Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), London, April 1986. Paper No. 3
90. Composites above and below the waterline. Warship Technol 1998:15
91. Slater JE, Houlston R. Selection of GRP composites for naval ship structures. In Sih GC, Hoa SV, Pindera JT, editors, Development and design with advanced materials. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1980. p. 289–300
92. Critchfield MO, Morgan SL, Potter PC. GRP deckhouse development for naval ships. Advances in marine structures – 2. London: Elsevier; 1991. p. 372–91
93. Smith CS, Murphy P. Response of hybrid GRP/steel superstructures to blast loading – theory and experiment. Advances in marine structures – 2. London: Elsevier; 1991. p. 392–415
94. Low-cost design and fabrication of composite ship structures10.1016/0951-8339(94)90036-1 ↗
95. Composites for large ships10.5957/jsp.1994.10.4.274 ↗
96. Maccari A, Dogliani M. Use of FRP sandwich panels for large ship superstructures: technological implications and normative aspects. In: Proceedings of IMAS'94: Fire Safety on Ships: Developments into the 21st Century, 1994 May 26–27. Paper 19
97. Selection of a blast-resistant GRP composite panel design for naval ship structures10.1016/0951-8339(94)90033-7 ↗
98. Dow R. IMDEX 95 A technology demonstrator for a composite superstructure. In: Proceedings of International Maritime Defence 1995, vol. 3, London, 1995 March 28–31. p. 257–70
99. Developing a prototype concurrent design tool for composite topside structures10.1111/j.1559-3584.1997.tb03211.x ↗
100. Forbes J, Judd G. Design, fabrication and testing of composite superstructures for warships. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Marine Structures III, Dunfermline, 1997 May 20–23