Features: - Tanker Operator

INDUSTRY - FOCUS ON GERMANY
By providing tankers with predetermined
breaking points in
their double hull, Lindenau
believes it can enhance tanker
safety. While mandatory double hulls offer
significantly better protection against the
threat from a collision than single hull vessels,
pollution may still occur if both the outer and
inner hulls are punctured.
If the inner tank shell was designed to
partially disconnect from the supporting
structure in a lateral collision, it would deform
more easily, bulging inwards to produce a
large dent at the point of impact, rather than
rupturing. This would require an inner hull
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SPOS®
A hull with a
breaking point
Kiel-based Lindenau Shipyard is further enhancing tanker safety
by designing vessels with a pre-determined breaking point.*
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made from a highly ductile, extensible
material. These ideas inspired the concept of a
so called 'crumple zone' for tankers.
To turn this idea into an actual project,
Lindenau got in touch with Hamburg-Harburg
Technical University (TUHH) and
Germanischer Lloyd (GL) to arrange for a
basic initial research programme.
It was thought that an austenite with high
ductile yield might prove suitable material
for the inner tank shell. Under tensile
loading, these kind of austenites resist
failure for a much longer period than
standard steel types. While shipbuilding
steel has a ductile yield of between 16% and
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22%, austenitic steel can be extended to 30%
to 35% before failing.
However, a tensile shell in itself will not
suffice. To bulge inward across a large enough
area, the shell must be allowed to separate
from its supporting structure. To illustrate the
problem, Lindenau's project head in charge of
developing the design - Ingo Tautz - used an
image of a balloon inflated inside a wire cage
and glued to the bars.
"Pushing the balloon downwards will cause
it to burst. But if you don't glue it to the bars,
it will be free to move so you can push it
inwards to quite an extent before it will burst,"
Tautz explained.
TANKEROperator � August/September 2008