Analysis and Optimization of Composite to Steel Joints for Ships

Composite to steel joints as important components of ships are gradually found in the marine industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate mechanical performance and optimization methods of the composite sandwich to steel joints. The main emphasis was placed on the mechanical properties of a hybrid joint between a sandwich glass fibre reinforced plastic superstructure and a steel main hull. Based on the experiments of a base joint, a new finite element method was used to analyze a series of joints. The optimized joint was presented due to reducing weight and enhancing the mechanical performance. The strength of the optimized joint was evaluated by finite element method. The result is similar to the base joint and there is no high stress concentration in weak parts. The optimized joint has 40 % lower weight than the base joint, and the stress is only about 5 %~56 % of the base one. The results of the present work imply that the change of geometric parameters is an effective way to reduce weight and improve performance for the composite to steel joints. Copyright © 2014 IFSA Publishing, S. L.