QUALIFY
Enabling Qualification of Hybrid Structures for Lightweight and Safe Maritime Transport
Priority Axis
Technological and Social InnovationSpecific objective
Technological Innovation
Lead partner
Stichting Materials Innovation Institute (M2i)Contact
Start Date
14/08/2017End Date
31/12/2021Project budget
3 777 816 €ERDF amount
2 266 689 €ERDF rate
60%About
Common challenge
The drivers to reduce weight in traditionally heavy loaded structures such as ships demands the development of durable, lightweight solutions that can withstand such loads under extreme conditions. The combination of steels and composites in adhesively bonded structures can reduce weight while preserving strength, leading to lighter and stronger ships. 10% weight reduction triggers a reduction of up to 7% in fuel consumption. The potential savings, along to the manufacturing advantages, have motivated the shipbuilding industry to explore the use of adhesively bonded hybrid joints in primary structures, capable to withstand high loads and guaranteeing safety. Currently, no certification guidelines exist to orient the industry when certifying new designs using such hybrid assemblies, which limits their to secondary structures. QUALIFY will provide the necessary knowledge to remove these technological and regulatory barriers, enabling their use in primary structures in shipbuilding.
Overall objective
Main outputs
Cross border approach
Main Achievements
The primary goal of Qualify is to provide guidance and examples validated through testing for certification of adhesively bonded composite-metal hybrid primary structures for maritime applications. The project is a cross-border collaborative effort between knowledge institutions (5), end-users (3), and classification societies (2). To enable the qualification of adhesively bonded joints, the whole system must be qualified.
Ghent University (Belgium) leads the work on the long term structural performance of the adhesively bonded hybrid joints under representative operational and environmental conditions. Experiments and simulations at material, coupon, and full scale tests levels under fatigue and static loads in aged and unaged conditions are almost completed. The remaining activities are full scale level tests, simulations and validations against the experimental results. The lack of an inspection and monitoring protocol to orient the end-users on the inspection techniques that can reliably assess the structural health of the joint is being addressed in Qualify.
Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) leads the development of a reliable inspection and maintenance methodology for adhesively bonded hybrid joints. A number of eight techniques were employed at the aforementioned scale levels and the obtained data was correlated with the integrity status of the joints. The monitoring and inspection protocol will be soon finalized in collaboration with classification societies and end-users. In the absence of maritime classification societies there would be no guideline standards for vessels.
Bureau Veritas (France) and Lloyd's Register (United Kingdom) lead the development of the guidelines for the qualification of hybrid adhesive joints. A draft of the roadmap for the qualification of hybrid joints is being written. It comprises the following sections: introduction to adhesive joints, design map, design assessment, constituents characterization, durability, manufacturing, and inspection and monitoring. To date, the focus has been on establishing and maintaining a live risk register to capture progress and outstanding hurdles to certification.