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Assessing fire safety of fiber reinforced polymer composite ship structures

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Author

Summary, in English

The environmental impact from shipping is driven by the combustion of fossil fuel. It has great potential to be reduced by use of structures in lightweight fibre reinforced polymer composite instead of steel. This has not been possible for ships regulated under SOLAS, since assessment of fire safety of such a fundamental change is complex. The purpose of this thesis has been to provide for the assessment by (1) investigating strategies for identifying hazards and criteria, (2) exploring performance verification methods, and (3) developing the assessment procedure described in MSC/Circ.1002. The regulations have unclear connections and were formed with steel structures in mind. It was therefore concluded that all the regulations’ objectives and functional requirements need to be evaluated, not only those of deviated prescriptive requirements. A procedure was developed, illustrated in a flowchart, to identify hazards and criteria based on regulations and prescribed tests. Regarding performance verification, when testing structural fire integrity of fiber reinforced polymer composite bulkheads it was found necessary to apply the design load, not 7 kN/m as prescribed, and that the surface temperature does not appraise performance. A new multiple-core sandwich design showed potential to effectively achieve structural fire integrity without using insulation. Further, a large-scale test method for façades was investigated and found suitable to evaluate fire protection of external surfaces. A heat transfer model for enclosures with lumped heat capacity was also developed to compare the effects of heat transfer through steel and insulated boundaries. To characterize the fire risk in different, or all, areas, a framework was proposed with different levels, allowing to adapt the assessment to uncertainties. Further research is needed to investigate performance and verification of current and future fiber reinforced polymer composite materials. For application of lightweight composite materials to release, examples are needed, to build experience for all stakeholders and to open new ways for ship design.

Publishing year

2025

Language

English

Document type

Dissertation

Publisher

Lund University. Department of Fire Safety Engineering

Topic

  • Other Engineering and Technologies
  • Composite Science and Engineering
  • Vehicle and Aerospace Engineering

Keywords

  • Fire
  • Composite
  • Test
  • Risk
  • Ship

Status

Published

Supervisor

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978-91-8104-380-8
  • ISBN: 978-91-8104-381-5

Defence date

23 April 2025

Defence time

09:00

Defence place

Lecture Hall V:B, building V, Klas Anshelms väg 14, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund University, Lund. The dissertation will be live streamed, but part of the premises is to be excluded from the live stream. Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/s/64831037813

Opponent

  • Björn Karlsson (Prof Emer.)