Non-metallic Materials in Maritime Structures

In this course you will learn about fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) materials and structures. Applications of FRCs are rapidly growing in the maritime sector due to their light-weight and superior corrosion resistance compared to their metallic counterparts. For those who have interest in structural design and analysis, it is important to understand how these materials can be designed, manufactured and recycled, applied to modern maritime of offshore structures, and inspected/monitored. MT44010 includes two parts: (i) fundamentals of FRC materials; and (ii) analysis and assessment of structures made of FRCs. The first part of the course introduces the manufacturing processes, recycling methods, microstructural characteristics, and mechanical behavior of composites highlighting the process-microstructure-property relationship. The second part focuses on the analysis of structures made of FRCs, and fundamentals of the conventional and advanced measurement methods for assessment of composites. The course contains two project assignments, and an experimental demonstration session.