Composites use
in the marine environment
John Summerscales
Marine renewable energy (MRE)
•
•
•
•
•
•
offshore wind ……………
wave energy
tidal stream energy
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
salinity gradient
algal biomass
Marine renewable energy (MRE)
• Wave energy
EMEC identify 77 developers of potential devices
six generic headings,
– attenuators ……………………………………..Pelamis:
– point absorbers
– oscillating wave surge converters
– oscillating water columns ……………………. Limpet:
– overtopping devices ……………………….. Wave Dragon
– submerged pressure differential devices
classification does not cover all options
Marine renewable energy
• tidal stream energy
– horizontal axis rotor turbines
– vertical axis rotor turbines
– oscillating hydrofoils
• images are
– Open Hydro HART
– Neptune Proteus VART
– Stingray OH
Offshore oil and gas structures
OGEE: oil and gas exploration and exploitation
grids and gratings handrails
ladders
OffshoreApplications
01
Composite Grids/Gratings
02
Hand Rails and Ladder Components
03
Aqueous Piping System
04
Water and fuel storage tanks and vessels
05
Low pressure composite valves
06
Spoolable type thermosetting tubes
07
Sump Caissons and pull tubes
08
Cable support systems
09
Modular paneling for partition walls
10
High pressure accumulator bottles
11
Flexible and Floating Risers, Drill pipe
12
Sub–sea structural components
13
Boxes, housings and shelters
14
Fire water and sea water lift pump-casings
15
Tendons
16
Offshore bride connecting between platforms
17
Fire and Blast protection
caissons
pipes
Submarines and submersibles
• American nuclear submarine SSN 711 "San Francisco“
hit an uncharted seamount on 7 January 2005.
• LR5 rescue submersible has an advanced composite
pressure hull used in the Kursk submarine rescue attempt
OceanGate Cyclops (2013)
•
•
•
•
•
five-person next-generation manned submersible
178 mm thick carbon fiber hull
manufactured by automated fiber placement (AFP)
depths to 3000 metres (9800 feet)
180° borosilicate glass dome.
Lifeboats
Inshore IB1
Atlantic 21
Atlantic 75
Mersey
Trent
Tamar
Arun
Severn
2003
1972
1992
1988
1994
2005
1971
1996
338 kg
1.4 tonnes
1.5 tonnes
14 tonnes
27.5 tonnes
30 tonnes
31.5 tonnes
41 tonnes
4.95 x 2 m
6.9 x 2.44 m
7.3 x 2.64 m
11.77 x 4 m
14.26 x 4.9 m
16 x 5 m
16-17 x 5.43 m
17x5.9 m
25
32
32
16
25
25
18
25
knots
knots
knots
knots
knots
knots
knots
knots
FRC structure with Hypalon coated polyester boat fabric
GRP hull with hypalon-coated nylon tube
GRP hull with hypalon-coated nylon tube
aluminium or fibre reinforced plastic
fibre reinforced composite
fibre reinforced plastic (FRP)
glass reinforced plastic
fibre reinforced composite
Lifeboats
RNLI Hovercraft: aluminium hull with FRC topsides and fan ducts
Balmoral liferaft:
•
•
•
•
•
self-righting, totally-enclosed, motor-propelled survival craft for the offshore oil industry
craft range in size (6.2-8.75 m ) and can carry 21-66 people respectively
glass reinforced plastic using fire-retardant resins
certification requires withstand 30 m high kerosene flames and temperatures of 1150°C
throughout the fire test, the temperature inside the craft never exceeded 27°C.
Mine counter-measures vessels
MCMV: hunter/sweeper
• HMS Wilton
• Royal Navy Hunt Class
• Sandown class SRMH
1
13
12
1973
1980
1989
46 m
60 m
50 m
450 tonnes
725 tonnes
450 tonnes
Swedish Navy
• Landsort MCMV
47.5 m
GRP sandwich
• Visby stealth corvette 73 m
sandwich construction CFRP
quoted speed of >35 knots
360 tons
600 tons
USS Stiletto
M
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ship Company (San Diego CA) M80 Stiletto 24.4 m by 12.1m wide
unique "double-M"-shaped multi-hull lightweight littoral patrol boat
captures air and converts wave energy into lift
cruise at >50 knots (92 km/h) with improved comfort/smaller wake
vacuum-bagged carbon sandwich for the hull major structures
resin film infusion (RFI) for bulkheads and longitudinal girders
crew of three and transports 12 Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) commandos
also carries an 11m/36 ft rigid-hull inflatable boat
and has capacity for smaller-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Ocean Eagle 43
ocean patrol vessel
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
designer Nigel Irens
laminate design Rivoyre Ingenierie
construction by Chantier Naval H2X
43.5 m (142 ft) vessel
cruise at 20 knots for over 4000 km
top speed of 30 knots.
infused glass fibre/epoxy sandwich
carbon fibre in stringer caps & arms
main hull infusion almost 4 t resin
composite structure <30 tonnes
infused hulls for 1st/2nd boats
differed by <5 kg weight.
Sterngear
• Propellers
– Tim Searle UG and PhD projects
– GFRP props for UoP work boats
– RV Triton
– 2.9 metre diameter composite propeller
– world's largest composite propeller:
five composite blades bolted and bonded
to a nickel aluminium bronze (NAB) hub
• Rudders
– UD DDG-51-class destroyer rudders
twist to different angle of attack at different water depths
Powerboats
• Very Slender Vessels (VSV) ~30 ft – covert operations
• Cable & Wireless Adventure 41 tonnes, 35 x 14 m
– composite glass reinforced polymer/foam sandwich
– record breaking circumnavigation:
24500 nautical miles in 74 days 20 hours
62 days at sea: average speed 16.5 knots
average fuel consumption ~ 1 mpg (4.5 litres/nm).
Powerboats
• Earthrace trimaran
– 24m wavepiercer trimaran by Craig Loomes Design Group (CLDG)
– “advanced composites including carbon fibre and aramid
reinforcements, toughened epoxy resins and lightweight foam cores”
– Germanischer Lloyd/CLDG animation
vessel operating at 28 knots in short steep head sea
of 2.8m height and 23m wavelength - colours indicate wave peaks/troughs
– 24000 mile circumnavigation in 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes
reduced record by almost 14 days (close to a 20% reduction in the time).
Work-boats
• Hammer Down Boating 35 foot SeaHunter
– “Drop, chop and go !!!”
Yachts
• Maltese Falcon: 1200 tonnes - 87.5 m long overall
– steel/aluminium hull
– three free-standing carbon fibre composites masts
• each 57 m high and weighs 13 tons
• embedded optical fibre sensors
report strain and stress data to the bridge
– six curved carbon-fibre yards to each mast
Yachts
• Mirabella V
740 tonnes 75.2 m long, 90 m mast
– largest single mast (sloop rigged) yacht
– built by VT, launched in November 2004
• carbon deck and stiffeners
• aramid outside hull skin
• E-glass composites over PVC or polyolefin foam cores
Yachts
• B&Q Castorama trimaran
– 8.3 tonnes - 23 m long - 30.6 m mast
– "constructed entirely .. of carbon fibre”
– designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret
– Ellen MacArthur solo non-stop circumnavigation:
71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes
– previous record, Francis Joyon 72d 22h 54m
– Cable & Wireless Adventurer 74d 20h & 14 crew!
Yachts
• Alain Thébault built 18.3 m 6.5 tonnes vessel
• "carbon fibre composite and titanium structures”
• September 2009 in a 28-knot westerly wind
– 51.36 knots (59.1 mph) over a distance of 500 metres
– 48.72 knots (56 mph) over one nautical mile
– subject to ratification by the
World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC).
Yachts
• "Team Philips“ 37 m by 21 m and 41 m high
– preimpregated CFRP fabrics and vacuum-bagging
– wave piercing bow technology
– designed for The Race:
no-holds barred, no limits, round the world challenge.
– first sea-trials: portion of the portside pontoon snapped off.
– repaired, boat relaunched, problem with rotating wing masts
– December 2000 abandoned:
70 knot winds, 10m waves and worsening weather conditions
Human-powered craft
• Pink Lady Atlantic row
– carbon fibre/foam core sandwich built in four separate components
(10 meter hull, forward cabin roof, the aft cabin roof and the rowing bay)
– days from breaking a world record for the
fastest North Atlantic row from Canada stopped by a freak wave
• Knoydart 14' Prospector
– standard fibreglass lay-up (24kg) is ideal for entry level paddlers
– Ultralight (18kg) lightest solo canoe available for wilderness tripping
Sails
FiberPath laminate sail
• fibres aligned with the primary loads in the sail
• multiple fibre patterns to address secondary loads
• lighter in weight than a tri-radial sail for GP applications.
End-of-life (EoL) vessel
• waste reduction > reuse > recovery > disposal
–
–
–
–
reuse: vessel – components – materials
recover: fibres – pyrolysis etc for feedstock
disposal: scuttle – incinerate – compost if bio-based
landfill as a last resort
• beware:
– toxic compounds in
• bilges, engines, lubricants, etc and
• anti-fouling coatings
End-of-life (EoL) vessel
• Annette Roux (2007)
President of FIN (French boatbuilding federation) and
President of Groupe Beneteau, said:
industry has worked hard on techniques to destroy old fibreglass
hulls, instead of owners abandoning them, “but so far we are having
difficulty finding any: they are in good condition and sailors continue
to use them”
Acknowledgements
• sources for images are given in:
– http://www.tech.plym.ac.uk/sme/composites/marine.htm
– Miggy Singh, John Summerscales and Ken Wittamore
Disposal of composite boats and other marine composites
Chapter 18 (pages 495-519) in Vanessa Goodship (editor):
"Management, recycling and reuse of waste composites",
Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, 2010.
– Juliette Jackson and John Summerscales
Marine Renewable Energy (MRE): a review of device technologies
.. draft manuscript.