Aiming to reduce the lightweight tonnage of a ship by no less than 30% (a bonanza to delight ship-owners) Dr Thomas Hipke of the Fraunhofer Institute in Chemnitz, Germany, gave news on 21, January 2011, that Institute researchers intend to replace much steel with a new super-light, yet strong material they call 'Aluminium Foam'. Already they have redesigned the bottom and side hull plating of an eco-friendly concept vessel, Bioship 1 (brainchild of Finnish designer Veikko Hintsanen) to achieve savings close to target.
Aluminium Foam
There is nothing particularly new in using aluminium alloy sandwich panels to replace fabricated steel plate and stiffener structures (used, for example, in the superstructure of high speed craft and passenger ships) and steel plate sandwich systems too have been approved by the major classification societies. However, this new building material reportedly bonds to aluminium or steel plate without the need of spot-welding or fixatives; is so light it floats in water, yet deforms without fracture under impact. So how is it made?
Summing-up the process in a few lines, titanium hydride – the foaming agent – is added to powdered aluminium, then the mixture is heated in a furnace to over 650C where it rapidly expands, forming pores of air internally to give it a sponge-like structure. On cooling the material hardens with the light weight and rigid composition of what Dr Hipke describes as being similar to the structure of a bone.
Bioship 1 Project
Joining hands with researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute to design the super-light ship they call Bioship 1, designer Hintsanen has his sights fixed on the construction of an environmentally friendly LNG fuelled, diesel engine powered vessel with a maximum draft of 2.4 metres, equipped with self-loading gear to handle a capacity of not less than 5000 cubic metres,.
Hintsanen's idea is to have Bioship 1 start off a new trade loading lumber from the remote abundant forests of Finland (hence the maximum draft set for his concept design ) for the long haul by sea to processing plants. Apparently it proves uneconomic to truck the timber more that 50 km overland, and thus Bioship 1 would expand the limits of this trade, and contribute to Finland's economy, while causing minimal disturbance to the country's scenic hinterland
Joining hands with researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute to design the super-light ship they call Bioship 1, designer Hintsanen has his sights fixed on the construction of an environmentally friendly LNG fuelled, diesel engine powered vessel with a maximum draft of 2.4 metres, equipped with self-loading gear to handle a capacity of not less than 5000 cubic metres,.
Hintsanen's idea is to have Bioship 1 start off a new trade loading lumber from the remote abundant forests of Finland (hence the maximum draft set for his concept design ) for the long haul by sea to processing plants. Apparently it proves uneconomic to truck the timber more that 50 km overland, and thus Bioship 1 would expand the limits of this trade, and contribute to Finland's economy, while causing minimal disturbance to the country's scenic hinterland
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