Marine renewable energy systems (e.g. wind turbines, wave power and tidal stream/barrage)
See the MATS324 Energy webpage for some basic information and resources on
sources of energy.
Applications of composites in this sector to follow
Offshore structures
Composite materials are used for a wide variety of applications in the
offshore oil exploration and exploitation industries as a consequence of their
low weight and good corrosion resistance. An excellent overview of "Composites for Offshore Applications" is presented by MS Babu, S Baksi, G Srikanth and S Biswas on the TIFAC website,
including the following summary Table and Figures:
Offshore
Applications
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
grids and gratings
handrails
ladders
caissons
piping
Table and Figures from http://www.tifac.org.in/news/acoffshore.htm
SSN 691 "Memphis" [USNI website] was redesignated an
experimental submarine during 1989 to test composite hull structures, unmanned
underwater vehicles, advanced sonars, hull friction reduction, and so forth but
remains combat-capable. During a mid-1990s refit, SSN 691 received a GRP
turtleback abaft the sail to accommodate remotely operated vehicles and a
towing winch and drum for experimental towed sonar arrays, 4.27-m-high by
1.37-m-wide vertical surfaces at the ends of the stern stabilizers to
accommodate sonar transducer arrays, a 54-mm-diameter towed array dispenser in
the port fin (leading to the new winch abaft the sail), supports for the stern
stabilizers, new hydraulic systems, a fiber-optic databus, and 58 standardized
equipment racks to accommodate a wide variety of electronic test gear; the
modifications added about 50 tons to the displacement, most of it aft. SSN 691
has tested a composite material propeller shaft of about half normal
weight.
The American nuclear submarine SSN 711 "San Francisco" hit an
uncharted seamount on 7 January 2005, killing one sailor and injuring sixty
others, 23 of them so seriously they could not perform their duties. Facts about
the incident were slow to emerge. Dunningan states "It appears that the sub was
traveling on a course it was ordered to follow, at a depth of 500 feet and a
speed of about 56 kilometers an hour. This was the first time the navy had given
the speed of a Los Angeles class sub as anything but “25+ knots” (45 kilometers
an hour)".
The LR5 rescue submersible has an advanced composite pressure hull.
It normally carries three
crew members, the pilot, a co-pilot and the systems operator and up to 15 submarine survivors can be evacuated at a time.
LR5 was used in the Kursk
submarine rescue attempt.
Self-righting, totally-enclosed, motor-propelled survival
craft for the offshore oil industry are manufactured in glass reinforced plastic
using fire-retardant resins. The craft range in size (6.2-8.75 m ) and can
carry 21-66 people respectively. As part of the certification trials, the
survival craft was required to withstand 30 m high kerosene flames and
temperatures of 1150°C. Throughout the fire test, the temperature inside
the craft never exceeded 27°C.
Image from the front cover of International Reinforced Plastics Industry,
May/June 1983, 2(5), 1.
No minesweepers were built for the Royal Navy between the end of World
War II
and the 1960s, when the Ministry of Defence contracted Bristol Aeroplane Plastics
to design, develop and build a full size glass fibre reinforced polyester centre
section representative of a typical minesweeper. A case study of this
pre-production test structure can be found in Chapter 14 of Hollaway.
More information:
AE Davey, GFRP minesweeper: pre-production test structure with box core
sandwich construction, Chapter 14 in L Hollaway, Handbook of Polymer
Composites for Engineers, Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, 1994, pages 309-324.
ISBN
1-85573-129-0.
Royal Navy mine counter measures vessel - HMS Wilton: 450 tons - 46.3 m
long - monolithic GRP
Image from http://www.tca2000.co.uk/wilton3small.jpg
HMS Wilton was a world leader at the time of her construction in 1973. At 450 tons, she
was then the world's largest reinforced plastic ship. Unofficially known as HMS
Tupperware, HMS Indestructible, or just 'the plastic duck', HMS Wilton was built
to the tried and tested Coniston-class minehunter design (more usually called
the Ton class minesweeper).
Swedish Navy Landsort class MCMV: 360 tons - 47.5m long - GRP sandwich
The Landsort class vessels are for "minehunting, minesweeping and
anti-submarine warfare (ASW), but at the same time, [are] excellent offshore
patrol vessels. Unlike single-role minehunters, the Landsort was conceived as a
genuine multi-purpose vessel, able to perform various mine-warfare tasks. Each
vessel is capable of operating as an independent unit or as a tactical command
vessel".
Image from http://www.kockums.se/surfacevessels/landsort.html
The vessels displace 360 tonnes with an overall length of
47.5 m and a beam of 9.6 m. Material of construction is GRP sandwich and
top speed is quoted as 15 knots.
Swedish Navy Visby stealth corvette: 600 tons - 73 m long - "sandwich
construction carbon fibre reinforced plastic" - quoted speed of >35 knots.
"The Visby Class corvette is the first vessel in the world to
have fully developed stealth technology, combined with high operational
versatility. The outstanding stealth properties fundamentally change the ship's
survivability and improve its mission effectiveness. Visby is a flexible
surface combatant, designed for a wide range of roles: anti-surface warfare (ASuW),
anti-submarine warfare (ASW), mine countermeasures (MCM), patrol and much more"
[1].
Image from http://www.kockums.se/surfacevessels/visby.html Images from http://www.kockums.se/News/photostock/photosurface.html
She displaces 600 tons (fully equipped), is 73 m overall length with a 10.4 m
beam. Material of construction for the hull is "sandwich construction
carbon fibre reinforced plastic" giving a quoted speed of >35 knots.
The M Ship Company (San Diego CA) has developed a unique "double-M"-shaped multi-hull lightweight
littoral (near shore) patrol boat for the United States Navy: M80 Stiletto (24.4m/80 ft long by 12.1m/39.7 ft-wide).
The patented planing-tunnel M-hull has unusual contours to capture air and convert wave energy into lift
to enable cruise at greater speed (>50 knots, 57.5 mph, 92 km/h) with
improved comfort and a smaller wake. It is the largest US naval vessel with principal
structures built using entirely vacuum-bagged carbon (sandwich) composites for the
hull major
structures with resin film infusion (RFI) for bulkheads and longitudinal
girders. The M80 Stiletto has a crew of three and is capable of transporting 12 Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) commandos. It also carries an 11m/36 ft rigid-hull inflatable boat and has capacity for smaller-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The US Navy DD 21 project was superseded by the DD(X) program to become the 32-ship Zumwalt class
designed to replace both frigates and destroyers with new multimission destroyers by 2012.
The upper-section deckhouse, a composite helicopter hanger and an integrated composite ballistic screen will be constructed with panels and beams made of carbon fiber/vinylester skins over balsa and/or foam cores.
The deckhouse will include the largest panels (36.6m by 18.3m) ever built by the vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) process and these take up to 12 hours to infuse with resin.
The US Navy has developed a rudder for DDG-51-class
destroyers that twists in such a way that it presents a different angle of
attack at different water depths [Griffiths]. Although initially
designed in metal, composite rudders (4.3m across both the span and widest
portion of the chord) are now produced for about half the steel rudder cost by
Structural Composites using the Recirculation Molding process - a variation on
light RTM. The links illustrate the
design, actual rudder as fitted to
USS Bulkeley, the
composite clamshell mould and the
manufacture.
Our former colleague, Tim Searle, considered the use of glass
reinforced plastics for marine propellers for both his undergraduate project
and his doctoral studies. Four designs of marine propellers up to 660 mm
diameter (photograph below) were manufactured in the latter context. Sea
trials have been carried out on a 500 mm diameter three-bladed composite
propeller installed on a 7-metre work boat with a 40 hp diesel engine.
Experiments to measure top speed and the thrust generated with the stern of
the boat tied to a bollard have demonstrated that the new propellers give
similar performance to traditional bronze propellers. The composite
propeller was designed as a retrofit and did not attempt to exploit the
potential benefits of hydro-elastic tailoring of the blade material. Tentative
finite element models were generated to predict the potential hydrodynamic
advantage which may result from such tailoring of the blades by selective
fibre placement.
Image from Tim Searle
More information:
Bob Griffiths, Rudder Gets New Twist With Composites: The
U.S. Navy's specially contoured ship rudder commands composite construction.
Composites Technology, August 2006, 12(4), 60-62.
http://www.compositesworld.com/ct/issues/2006/August/1408/1.
T Searle, J Chudley and D Short, Composites offer advantages for
propellers, Reinforced Plastics, December 1993, 37(12), 24-26.
T Searle and D Short, Are composite propellers the way forward for
small boats?, Materials World, February 1994, 2(2), 69-70.
October 2009
TJ Searle, The manufacture of marine propellers in moulded anisotropic polymer composites,
PhD thesis, 1998, UoP Library 623.873 SEA.
TJ Searle, Composites final frontier: a composites propeller for
commercial marine applications, Design Engineering, April 1999, 51-52.
QinetiQ completed
sea trials of a new 2.9 metre diameter composite propeller in Falmouth Bay
during July 2003. Currently the world's largest composite propeller it
consists of five composite blades bolted and bonded to a nickel aluminium
bronze (NAB) hub and weighs significantly less than an equivalent propeller
made from (NAB). The propeller was fitted to RV Triton (QinetiQ’s
trimaran warship prototype - the world’s largest motor powered triple-hull
vessel).
The first VSV™ was conceived as a high speed power boat to
seat up to six and carry them across the Irish sea in relative comfort in all
but the worst sea and weather conditions. The MkI 30ft VSV™ was designed by
Adrian Thompson for Nick Keig who owned and built the vessel. The vessel was
constructed from high tech composite materials and was fitted with petrol V8
engine and Hamilton waterjet drive system. The vessel was launched and proved
all the sceptics wrong when it was seen to be an extremely fast and easy to
handle boat. Many different variant VSV™ have since been procured by
military customers both in the UK and abroad.
The Cable & Wireless Adventure was a bid to circumnavigate
the globe by motor-powered vessel in less than 80 days, so as to break the
world record. The boat (41 tonnes, 35 x 14 m) is constructed in
"composite glass reinforced polymer/foam sandwich". Cable & Wireless
Adventurer successfully completed a record breaking circumnavigation.
Departing from Gibraltar on 19th April 1998, the vessel returned on the 3rd
July having covered the 24500 nautical miles in 74 days 20 hours, spending
some 62 days at sea. The average speed achieved was 16.5 knots and the average
fuel consumption about 1 mpg (4.5 litres/nm).
Launched 22 February 2006, this radical 24m wavepiercer
trimaran by Craig Loomes Design Group (CLDG) was built to try to beat the 75 day record set by Cable & Wireless in 1998 for the
Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM)
powerboat record for an equatorial circumnavigation via the Panama and Suez
canals. Construction is "advanced composites including carbon fibre and
aramid reinforcements, toughened epoxy resins and lightweight foam cores".
The boat is powered by biodiesel, showcasing the "environmental benefits
of this emerging fuel technology". Germanischer Lloyd, in conjunction
with CLDG, have analysed the sea induced loadings: the animation below
shows the vessel operating at 28 knots in a short steep head sea of 2.8m
height and 23m wavelength. The colours indicate the wave peaks and troughs.
Between 27 April and 27 June 2008, the boat completed the 24000 mile course
in 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes, reducing the record by almost 14 days
(close to a 20% reduction in the time).
Earthrace breaks world record thanks to composite industry support, JEC
Composites magazine, September 2008, (43), 44-45.
Christensen 186
High Modulus has commenced the structural design of a 57m (186ft) all-composite motor yacht which will be the largest vessel of this type when launched in 2011. The production vessel will be vacuum-infused and will break the 500 ton gross-weight threshold.
It relies on the Christensen Shipyards (Vancouver, Washington) proven hull and associated systems. Tooling will start in early 2008, with construction in a new purpose-designed facility on a lakefront in Tennessee. The first boat allocated to current Christensen yacht owner John Rosatti.
Maltese Falcon: 1200 tonnes - 87.5 m long overall (steel/aluminium hull)
Maltese Falcon is a US$100M superyacht with an overall length of 87.5 m and
three free standing masts (each one is 57 m high and weighs 13 tons) which
permits rotation of the mast to optimally catch the wind. The carbon-fibre composite
masts have embedded optical fibre sensors which report strain and stress data to
the bridge. The vessel has a clipper rig based on
the DynaRig concept developed in the 1960s by German hydraulics engineer Wilhelm
Prolls. There are six curved carbon-fibre yards to each mast.
In performance trials, she achieved 10.5 knots hard on the 15.8 knots true
wind at 38 degrees relative wind angle with the topgallants and the royals
furled. On a close reach at 60 degrees relative angle, the speed (still
at 16 knots true wind) climbed to 14 knots.
Mirabella V: 740 tonnes - 75.2 m long - carbon/aramid/glass sandwich
construction
Mirabella V is
the largest single mast (sloop rigged) yacht in the world. Built by
Vosper Thornycroft, she was launched in November 2004 with
her 90 m mast stepped in late December of that year. She displaces 740
tonnes and is 75.2 m long. Materials of construction
are carbon (deck and stiffeners), aramid (outside hull skin), and E-glass
composites over PVC or polyolefin foam cores.
On 7 February 2005, Ellen MacArthur became the
fastest sailor to complete a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the globe (71
days, 14 hours, 18 minutes). The previous record, set in 2004 by Frenchman
Francis Joyon was 72 days 22 hours 54 minutes and 22 seconds. In 1998, the
powered trimaran Cable & Wireless Adventurer (see above) took 74 days 20 hours
with fourteen crew!
"Plain sailing for composites", Materials
World, April 2005, 13(4), 13.
A record-breaking one piece SCRIMP yacht hull is currently
under construction at Horizon Yachts subsidiary Atech Composites (Kaohsiung,
southern Taiwan). The Espinosa designed
Horizon 130
will have an overall length of 39.62 meters, a beam of 7.98 meters and a
displacement of 211 tonnes and will be the longest one piece SCRIMP yacht hull
ever attempted in the world
L’Hydroptère
L’Hydroptère is a concept/trade name of Alain Thébault. After 20 years research and several models, he has built an
18.3 m (60-foot) vessel using "carbon fibre composite and titanium structures" and weighing just 6.5 tonnes:
In 2007, she claimed a record speed of 46.5 knots (>86 km/h). The World Sailing
Speed Record Council (WSSRC) has ratified two world records for l’Hydroptère, set on Wednesday 4th April 2007:
the fastest sailing vehicle over one nautical mile with an average speed of 41.69 knots (previously held by Bjorn Dunkerbeck with an average speed of 41.14 knots on a sailboard in 2006).
the speed record over 500 meters in category D (sail surface area over 27.88 m²) with an average speed of 44.81 knots
(held since 1997 by the catamaran Techniques Avancées with an average
speed of 42.12 knots).
On 04 September 2009 in the Hyères harbour (near Marseille in southern France) in a 28-knot (32-mph) westerly wind, Alain Thébault and his crew achieved 51.36 knots (59.1 mph) over a
distance of 500 metres and 48.72 knots (56 mph) over one nautical mile. These figures are subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC).
On 14 February 2010, the BMW Oracle trimaran won the 33rd America's Cup in waters off the coast of Spain beating the Alinghi catamaran.
The vessel had a 57m (190 foot) composite fixed-wing sail reportedly made using a carbon fiber and aramid-reinforced polymer spar and ribs, wrapped with a polymer film skin.
Designed by Malcolm Barnsley (UK), Vestas SailRocket is a radical sail foiler. The objective of the SailRocket team is
to return the World Water Speed Sailing Record to the UK requiring speed under
sail in excess of 47 knots over the 500m course. The next
objective is to raise the world record to the magic and elusive target of 50
knots and rightfully lay claim to the title of ‘the worlds first 50 knot
sailing machine’. On 3 December 2008 at the Walvis Bay speed-strip in Namibia, Paul Larsen piloted SailRocket at an average speed of 47.36 knots
(54.5 mph) over a 500m course with peak speeds of 52.22 knots.
The revolutionary catamaran "Team Philips" was the dream of one man, Pete
Goss. At 37 m by 21 m (120ft long, 70ft wide .. larger area than the
centre court at Wimbledon) and 41 m high, the catamaran construction was
closer to aerospace techniques than boat building - using preimpregated
fabrics and vacuum-bagging. With wave piercing bow technology, she was a
sailing spaceship in carbon fibre, and was specifically designed for The Race
- a no-holds barred, no limits, round the world challenge. On its first
seatrials, a large portion of the portside pontoon snapped off. The cause of
the failure was identified, repairs made, and the boat relaunched for another
seatrial. Just one day into that trial, near the Scilly Isles, trouble
developed in one of the huge rotating wing masts. In December 2000, on
the passage to the start of The Race in Barcelona, Team Philips had to be
abandoned in freak weather: 70 knot winds, 10m waves and worsening weather
conditions, left Pete and his crew no choice but to abandon Team Philips or
risk their lives.
The Pink Lady Atlantic row set off from St John's, Newfoundland
on June 30 and was within days of breaking a world record for the fastest North
Atlantic row from Canada before it was stopped by a freak wave.
The structure of the boat is a carbon fibre/foam core
sandwich built in four separate components (10 meter hull, forward cabin roof,
the aft cabin roof and the rowing bay) joined together in the final stages of
construction by a four man Goss Composites team.
The Knoydart 14' Prospector is available in a wide variety of
lay-ups. The standard fibreglass lay-up (24kg) is ideal for entry level
paddlers, while the Ultralight version (18kg) provides one of the lightest solo
canoes available for wilderness tripping. "It is a serious all-around solo
canoe that is responsive and seaworthy in grade II and III white water and yet
it’s efficient enough to paddle across large bodies of open water".
The fibres in a FiberPath laminate sail (image at right from
http://www.skelleysails.com/racing.htm) are aligned with the primary loads
in the sail, and a FiberPath sail can be built with multiple fiber patterns to
address secondary loads. In addition, a FiberPath sail is lighter in weight than
a tri-radial sail and is aimed at a grand prix applications.
Niels Haarbosch and Thomas Mol (Students at Delft University of Technology -
Netherlands) built and sailed a light-weight catamaran called Flaxcat [1,2]. The vessel is made of
natural fibres (the Dutch website says "vlas" i.e. flax, but the English
translation has hemp!) in epoxy resin.
Gustafsson at APC Composites (Luleå - Sweden) has produced the hull of a
small boat using flax fibres in bio-based furan resin by vacuum infusion [3].
ME Otheguy, AG Gibson, E Findon, RM Cripps, A Ochoa Mendoza and MT Aguinaco Castro,
Recycling of end-of-life thermoplastic composite boats
[RNLI Atlantic 85 RIB], Plastics, Rubbers and Composites, 2009, 38(9/10), 406-411.
M Singh, J Summerscales and K 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. ISBN 978-1-84569-462-3.
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