Compared with traditional shipbuilding materials, carbon fiber composite materials have obvious advantages: first, carbon fiber composite materials have good mechanical properties. It has the characteristics of light weight and low fuel consumption, and the construction process is relatively simple, the cycle is short, and the molding is convenient, so the construction and maintenance cost is much lower than that of steel ships. Because the interface between carbon fiber and resin matrix can effectively prevent crack propagation, it has good fatigue resistance. Secondly, due to the chemical inertness of the surface of the carbon fiber, the hull has the characteristics of water organisms difficult to attach, corrosion resistance, easy to be corroded, and is more conducive to the maintenance of the equipment, which is also one of the very important factors in the selection of materials for ship construction.
1. The application advantages of carbon fiber in the field of military ships
Carbon fiber composite material has good wave and sound transmission and non-magnetic properties, so it can improve its stealth performance when applied to warships. The use of composite materials in ships can not only reduce the weight of the hull, but also by embedding a frequency selection layer with filtering function in the sandwich, it can transmit and receive electromagnetic waves at a predetermined frequency, thus shielding enemy radar electromagnetic waves, with special functions of weight reduction, radar and infrared dual stealth.
Carbon fiber composite materials can also be used in the propulsion system of warships as propellers and propulsion shafting to reduce the vibration effect and noise of the hull, and are mostly used in reconnaissance ships and fast cruise ships.
2. The application advantages of carbon fiber in the field of private yachts
Large yachts are generally privately owned and expensive, requiring light weight, high strength and good durability. Carbon fiber composite materials can be applied to the instrument dial and antenna, rudder and deck, cabin, cabin wall and other reinforced structures. Traditional composite yachts are mainly made of glass steel, but due to insufficient stiffness, the hull is often too heavy after meeting the stiffness design requirements, and glass fiber is a carcinogen, which is gradually banned abroad. Now the proportion of carbon fiber composite materials used in yachts has increased greatly, and some even all use carbon fiber composite materials. For example, Panama, a superyacht built by Baltic, is a 60m long, 210t ship with a carbon fiber/epoxy sheathing, Nomex honeycomb and Corecella “a” structural foam core for the hull and deck. The Sunreef 80 Levante, a carbon fiber catamaran built by Polish catamaran shipyard Sunreef Yachts, uses vinyl ester sandwich composite, PVC foam and carbon fiber composite. The mast and boom are custom-made carbon fiber composite, and only part of the hull is made of fiberglass. Unloaded weight is only 45t. High speed, low fuel consumption and excellent performance.
To sum up,carbon fiber composite materials have unique comprehensive performance advantages in ship manufacturing.
