STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS UDC 629.5.023:62-419.

5
P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC

Pentti KUJALA
Alan KLANAC Steel Sandwich Panels in Marine
Applications
Preliminary communication
Steel sandwich panels welded by laser can offer 30-50 % weight savings compared to the
conventional steel structures. Helsinki University of Technology/Ship Laboratory has done active
research during the past 10 years on various topics related to the laser welded steel sandwich
panels. The work carried out includes development of design formulations for the ultimate and
impact strength, analysis of fatigue strength for the joints, and development of solutions to improve
the behaviour under fire. A number of research projects both at the national and European level
have been ongoing. In the paper, a summary of the marine applications, main benefits and prob-
lem areas of the panels as well as available design tools are given. A case study for weight and
cost optimisation of a hoistable cardeck is also presented proving some of the described benefits
of all steel sandwich panels.
Keywords: design optimisation, hoistable cardeck, laser welding, shipbuilding structures, steel
sandwich panels

Primjena ËeliËnih sendviË panela u brodogradnji

Prethodno priopÊenje
Laserski zavareni ËeliËni sendviË paneli mogu pruæiti 30-50 % uπtede u teæini u odnosu na
kovencionalne ËeliËne konstrukcije. Helsinki University of Technology/Ship Laboratory je tijekom
proteklih 10 godina obavio aktivno istraæivanje razliËitih tema vezanih za laserski zavarene ËeliËne
sendviË panele. Obavljena istraæivanja ukljuËuju razvijanje projektnih formula za maksimalnu i udarnu
ËvrstoÊu, analizu zamorne ËvrstoÊe spojeva te razvijanje rjeπenja u svrhu poboljπanja ponaπanja
Authors’ address (Adresa autora): panela izloæenog vatri. Postoji niz projekata na nacionalnoj i europskoj razini koji se bave ovom
Ship Laboratory, Helsinki University of problematikom. U ovom radu daje se saæeti prikaz primjene ËeliËnih sendviË panela u brodogradnji,
Technology njihove osnovne prednosti, problemi vezani uz njihovu primjenu te rasploæivi projektni alati. Prikazana
Espoo, Finland je i analiza sluËaja optimiziranja teæine i troπkova podizive palube za vozila koja potvruje neke od
opisanih prednosti svih ËeliËnih sendviË panela.
Received (Primljeno): 2005-04-20 KljuËne rijeËi: optimizacija projekta podiziva paluba za vozila, lasersko zavarivanje, brodogra-
Accepted (PrihvaÊeno): 2005-05-05 evne konstrukcije, ËeliËni sendviË paneli

1 Introduction Between the late 1980’s and early 90’s Europe took over the
lead in research related to laser welded sandwich panels. Research
Proposals for the construction of sandwich-like components was initiated especially in Britain, Germany and Finland. In
were made in different industrial branches as early as the 1950’s. Britain the strength of spot welded steel sandwich panels was
However, the application of laser welding started to be increa- studied by the School of Civil Engineering at the University of
singly discussed only after the high power laser sources became Manchester [5], [6], [7]. They performed both theoretical and
available on the market at more affordable prices. Due to its high experimental investigations on the behaviour of steel sandwich
energy intensity resulting in a low heat input and a deep penetra- panels under various loading and boundary conditions. Mecha-
tion effect, laser welding offers a number of benefits for the nical properties of adhesively bonded steel sandwich panels were
production of all-metal and hybrid-metal sandwich panels. High investigated in [8] and [9].
pre-fabrication accuracy of the components, high welding speed A large German project [10] conducted by Meyer Werft
and the possibility to connect internal stiffeners with the face between 1994 and 1999 investigated both the production and
sheets from outside have led to a wide application of laser welding application of sandwich panels in cruise vessels. This led to the
in the construction of metal sandwich panels. development of the I-Core panels [11].
In the 1980s the United States Navy led the development of In Finland the research related to all steel sandwich panels
laser welded sandwich panels with a robot system at the Navy was initiated in 1988 in the Ship Laboratory of Helsinki Uni-
Joining Centre at Pennsylvania State University. The development versity of Technology. The first study focused on the application
resulted in some prototype panels, first strength tests [1], [2], [3] of sandwich panels in the shell structures of an icebreaker. Since
and first limited applications, such as antenna platforms on the then a considerable number of research projects in Finland, such
US Navy ships [4]. as Shipyard 2000, Weld 2000 and Kenno – Light Structures

56(2005)4, 305-314 305

P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS

Technology Program, investigated manufacturing, design and nels. Naturally, during the production process or after welding
design optimisation of steel sandwich panels. This was of faceplates plates and core together, the steel sandwich panels
summarised in [12] and [13]. can also be filled with some polymer, mineral or rock wool, con-
The European research project SANDWICH [14] joined crete etc. to improve the behaviour for specific targets.
forces between the main actors in Europe and continued the All kinds of sandwich panels have a number of common bene-
development based on previous national projects. The project fits, like good weight to stiffness ratio, high pre-manufacturing
aimed at enlarging the field of applications of sandwich panels accuracy etc. and problems, e.g. integration in a ship structure,
in various surface transport sectors, by further improving the while the various variants also show a number of specific advan-
sandwich panel properties by implementing local filling material tages and disadvantages. Steel sandwich is relatively light and
into the panels, developing and validating reliable design the total costs are very competitive to other light structures
formulations within the design tool. One very important outcome solutions. Typically, normal strength steel is used with steel
of the project were the first DNV guidelines for the classification sandwich panels as buckling or displacement is the dominating
of these panels in marine applications [14]. failure criteria, therefore high strength steel does not usually give
More recently, another European Coordination Action called any major benefits. For areas with high demands for corrosion
SAND.CORe [15] was started with the intention to assess the protection or easy maintanence stainless steel can be also applied.
current status of the development of sandwich panels in general Laser welding require relatively high investment costs, there-
and to elaborate the guidelines of best practice, by compounding fore the price of the panels is strongly related to the volume of
the knowledge of 16 experts from 8 European countries. the production. However, as the material costs are smaller due to
This paper first gives a summary of some of the studied the decreased weight, typically the price of the steel sandwich
practical applications and current knowledge related to various panels/unit area is about the same magnitude as that of
design topics of steel sandwich panels. Finally, a more detailed conventionally stiffened steel panels. Sandwich panels and in
presentation is given of the results of optimisation of a hoistable particular laser welded sandwich panels offer a number of
car deck that applied steel sandwich structure for panelling. benefits, such as:
• Good stiffness to weight ratio offering a weight saving
2 Steel sandwich panels: types, benefits and potential of up to 50% as compared to traditional stiffened
production plates;
• Less space consumption and the smaller total height of
Sandwich panels in general can be classified as: composite structure, comprising steel decks and underlying systems like
sandwich and metallic sandwich panels. Composite sandwich cables, tubes and insulation;
panels consist of non-metallic components such as FRP, PU foam • Good properties regarding heat insulation, noise damping and
etc. and are typically applied as load carrying structures in naval fire safety, in particular when filling materials or top layers
vessels and leisure yachts, and mainly as non-load carrying are implemented; weight and man hour consumption of
elements on merchant and large cruise ships. For metallic sand- external insulation can be drastically reduced due to the flat
wich panels there are basically two types of panels: panels with surface of the sandwich panels;
metallic face plates and bonded core such as SPS panels and • Significantly improved crashworthiness, with filling materials
panels with both metallic face plates and core welded together. further increasing crashworthiness;
The metal material can be either regular, high tensile or stainless • High pre-manufacturing accuracy and flatness, reducing the
steel, or aluminium alloys. This paper focuses on steel sandwich amount of fairing and fitting work in outfitting; no need for
panels welded by laser. The steel sandwich panels can be floor levelling for sandwich structures;
constructed with various types of cores as summarised in Figure • Competitive prices which are in the same order of magnitude
1. The choice of the core depends on the application under as conventional steel structures (standard steel sandwich
consideration. The standard cores such as Z-, tube- and hat- panels without filling); fabrication prices can be further
profiles are easier to get and they are typically accurate enough
for the demanding laser welding process. The special cores, such
as corrugated core (V-type panel) and I-core, need specific equip- Figure 2 Laser welding of steel sandwich panels by Mizar in Fin-
ment for production, but they usually result with the lightest pa- land [17]
Slika 2 Lasersko zavarivanje ËeliËnih sendviË panela u tvrtki
Mizar u Finskoj [17]
Figure 1 Various solutions for the core profiles to be applied in
steel sandwich panels [16]
Slika 1 RazliËita rjeπenja profila jezgri koja se mogu primijeniti
u ËeliËnim sendviË panelima [16]

306 56(2005)4, 305-314

STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC

decreased with more standard applications, leading to series and penetrations together with connecting profiles were
effects and potentially lower material prices; developed and installed in the panel fabrication workshop.
• Larger unsupported span and drastic reduction of pillars, Technologies for last minute modifications as well as repair have
leading to more open rooms and more architectural freedom; been developed and are applied if found necessary. Shipyard
• Large variability for design modifications, allowing the tailor personnel have become accustomed with these applications, and
made panels for dedicated application cases. no major problems have been recorded in assembly and in
Sandwich panels are pre-fabricated commercially by Meyer operation for almost ten years of service [10, 11].
Werft shipyard in Germany and a couple of Finnish companies: In Finland, marine applications have seen several prototypes
so far, whereas the activities in the building sector have increased
Mizar and Kennotech. Production in Mizar is seen in Figure 2.
rapidly during the past year. The applications for example include
Also, large steel manufacturers are interested to produce sandwich
upper floor panelling for a sport stadium and rapidly constructed
panels once a critical mass of applications is achieved. Mizar
houses using steel sandwich modules. The marine applications
has high volume production capabilities with two 8 kW lasers,
mainly relate to bulkheads and staircase landings onboard cruise
one 5 kW, and one 12 kW laser. The maximum panel size is 4 m
ships [16].
x 17 m, with plate thicknesses reaching up to 6 mm and panel
height up to 500 mm.
4 Design characteristics
3 Marine applications The basic text books for sandwich structures [19] and [20],
give the basic design equations for these types of panels. However,
Practical applications of laser welded sandwich panels in
these books concentrate mainly on composite panels. Special
shipbuilding were realised from the mid 1990’s onwards. After
design formulations and tools for steel sandwich have been
some very limited prototype applications in the US Navy the
developed in the Finnish national research projects and in the
focus shifted to Europe. The development and application of laser
EU-SANDWICH project, the formulations are summarised e.g.
welded sandwich panels in the United States was driven by the
in [12]. The developed design formulations support calculations
US Navy and focused on naval applications. Main reasons for
of response, fatigue, fire, corrosion, sound and vibration. Formu-
the application were weight savings and increased resistance to
lations are intended for designers as well as for the use in optimi-
fire, blast and penetration.
zation. One practical case engulfing some of these characteristics
The development in the US comprised fabrication of sandwich
is described in the following chapter.
panels by conventional tack welding and laser welding, estimation
The strength formulations cover the basic first principle design
of sandwich properties such as strength, fire, and blast, some
approaches. In these formulations, the effect of possible filling
basic investigations on repair and maintenance as well as
inside the panel, using e.g. balsa, polyurethane or concrete, is
investigations on some potential applications, the largest being
included to develop tailor made panels for specific application
an antenna platform consisting of several Lascor panels, i.e.
cases. Design tools such as ESAComp MSE [21] are available,
panels with corrugated core. The weight savings were estimated
although limitedly, which allows a shipyard designer to integrate
to be as much as 50% [3, 4].
sandwich structures into a global finite element model of a ship
Meyer Werft pioneered the application of laser welded
as well as to design optimal panels.
sandwich panels, primarily with webs as internal stiffeners. This
product is marketed under the brand name I-Core. These had
been widely used in cruise ships built at Meyer Werft, in inland 4.1 Calculation of response
waterway cruise ships built at Neptun Industrie shipyard, as well The first step in the design process of steel sandwich panels
as in RO-RO decks supplied by MACOR Neptun. Also, panels is to find out the best combination of the cross-section scantlings.
were supplied to other shipyards as well as to other applications After the initial scantlings have been set up, one can evaluate the
outside shipbuilding such as parking houses. Details can be found linear elastic response in several different ways. For practical
at the I-Core website [11]. design the methods are mainly: beam theory, orthotropic plate
First applications in cruise ships by Meyer Werft started in theory and 3D-shell Finite Element (FE) models. In general, beam
1995, immediately after the first sandwich panels had been theory gives acceptable results for the panels with either free
produced at the test installation. Applications focused on wing longitudinal or transversal edges and with load evenly distributed
bulkheads and staircase landings, but also for other walls like along the whole width of the sandwich panel. In ship solutions
balcony partitions. Later on, the applications extended to stairs these kinds of cases exists very rarely since the panel is usually
and platforms in the public areas. Meyer Werft panels were also supported from all four edges. For more complicated combinati-
applied in two cabin decks on the cruise ship Superstar Virgo. ons of loads and boundary conditions the orthotropic plate theory
This became possible after extensive fatigue tests of the joints considering both bending and shear must be used. However, the
between the sandwich panels and surrounding conventional closed form solutions exist only for several combinations of load
structures. Early applications at cruise ships are described in [18] and boundary conditions namely simply supported and clamped
and various conference papers, e.g. [10]. plates with uniform pressure or point loads. Usually these
Sandwich panels proved to be an excellent solution for walls solutions are based on the assumption that the panel cross-section
and platforms, offering space savings and high accuracy resulting is symmetrical about its mid-plane. In addition, it has been shown
in a reduced straightening work. Additionally, significant reduc- in [12] and [22] that the distribution of bending moment derived
tion of floor levelling material, ease and reduction of insulation this way is not realistic.
as well as a high degree of pre-outfitting, avoiding “hot works” To overcome these limitations Romanoff and Klanac in [23]
in block and final assembly, have been experienced. Cut outs developed analytical formulations for equivalent Reissner-

56(2005)4, 305-314 307

P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS

Mindlin shell elements to be used for 2D Finite Element Analyses. plate collapse and top plate denting, the derived formulations for
Stiffness properties were derived analytically for both empty and foam filled steel sandwich panels under static loading are
filled panels with I-, C-, O-, V-, Vf- and Z-core geometries. presented by Romanoff in [24].
Local impact needs to be studied as well due to the typically
4.2 Strength criteria thin top face plates. The behaviour of steel sandwich panels under
local impact loading was investigated by means of laboratory
When the response of the panel is known, the structure can testing, FE simulations and analytical modelling [25]. The FE
be checked against strength and maximum displacement criteria. simulations enabled the following of the impact process and
The strength criteria include: overall buckling of the panel, local attainment of the information about the behaviour of a panel
buckling of panel’s structural members, faces and web plates, and throughout the impact. Based on this and the observation during
their maximum tolerable local loads. Local buckling of the panel’s the laboratory experiments, an analytical model has been
structural members can be calculated with good accuracy, with developed analysing the deformation energy. The deformation
the formulae presented for example in the classification society’s energy, in case of the panel with filling, can be partitioned into
rules or handbooks of strength of materials. Figure 3a shows an three main components: bending and membrane energy of the
example of the failure process of corrugated core steel sandwich top plate and energy absorbed by the filling material. Deformation
panels under constant pressure with simply supported edges. The depth and the shape can be then evaluated by equalising the kinetic
panel dimensions were: length 2500 mm, breadth 340 mm, height energy of the striking body with the deformation energy of the
53 mm, face plates 1 mm, web plate 0.7 mm. Yield strength for the panel as shown by Tabri in [25].
face plates was 153 MPa and for the webs 184 MPa [16]. Figure
3b illustrates the middle part of the panel after testing. 4.3 Joints
Particular problems in highly loaded sandwich structures are
joints. The joining element has to enable a simple connection of
panels by single side conventional butt welding. Hence, the
sandwich structure can be connected to the surrounding structure
in a way similar to conventionally stiffened plates. Figure 4
illustrates typical solutions for the joining elements.
The main design topics of joints are related to the fatigue
properties and how to determine the fatigue strength when
attributed with high longitudinal and in particular shear loads.
No fatigue design catalogues for steel sandwich joints is available
at present in public literature.
During the SANDWICH research project, the joints were
analysed under longitudinal load along the core applied at the

Figure 4 Typical solutions for the joining elements of steel sand-

wich panels [27]
Slika 4 TipiËna rjeπenja spojnih elemenata za ËeliËne sendviË
panele [27]

Figure 3 Force-deflection curve under constant pressure for steel

sandwich panel (a) and the middle part of the panel af-
ter the testing (b) [16] and [27]
Slika 3 Krivulja sila-progib pri konstantnom tlaËnom optereÊe-
nju za ËeliËni sendviË panel (a) i srediπnji dio panela
nakon testiranja (b) [16] i [27]

The failure modes, which occur under high local loads, are
web plate plastic collapse and denting of the face plate. Both
might occur under static or dynamic (impact) loading. For web

308 56(2005)4, 305-314

STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC

other end of the panel, see Figure 5. The Radaj’s approach [26] are possible, being mainly symmetric, often present problems in
was used to determine the stress concentration factors for typical fitting and welding under assembly conditions. Since the 2D FE
joints as reported by Ehlers in [27]. A circle of 1 mm in diameter models assume homogenous and equal material properties for
is modelled on the critical areas enabling thus more exact stress the weld and base material, any welding defect or production
evaluation, see Figure 6. effects are not taken into account.

4.4 Fire safety

For most applications of steel sandwich panels, the fire safety
is an important consideration. Since these panels consist only
from steel, their behaviour under fire is typically similar to
conventional steel structures. An example of the results of the
fire resistance tests are given in Figure 8 [28]. In these tests the
Figure 5 The studied load case for the joints [26] dimensions of the pieces were 1.25 m × 1.25 m. The height of
Slika 5 ProuËavani sluËaj optereÊenja za spojeve [26] the Lascor steel sandwich was 50 mm with top and bottom plate
thicknesses of 1.0 mm and the corrugated core 0.7 mm.
Conventional stiffened plating with plate thickness of 5 mm with
50 mm mineral wool (PV-F-110 L) was used as a reference case.
Three tests were conducted with the sandwich structure: 1) no
mineral wool, 2) 50 mm mineral wool outside the sandwich panel
and 3) 55 mm mineral wool inside the sandwich panel. The
temperature of the furnace was rapidly increased so that in the
end of test the temperature was above standard 900 oC. The mean
temperature of the colder surface is one aspect that determines
the fire class of the structure. The time required for the increase
of the mean temperature to 140 oC along with other requirements
specifies the fire class so that fire class A60 means that it takes
longer than 60 minutes to achieve this reference temperature
increase.
Figure 6 The modelling principles applying the Radaj’s circles As can be seen from Figure 8, the conventional stiffened
on the hot spot areas [26] plating with 50 mm mineral wool fulfils the A60 requirement
Slika 6 NaËelo modeliranja primjenom Radajevih krugova na and Lascor sandwich panel with 50 mm mineral wool against
podruËjima æariπnog naprezanja [26]
fire is close to the A60 requirement. The insulation inside the
Lascor is not as effective as the insulation outside the panel. The
Figure 7 illustrates example of the calculated stress concentra- fire characteristics of the sandwich panel can be remarkably in-
tion factors. As seen, it is possible with certain joint designs to creased by using holes on the corrugated core plating (Figure 9),
achieve values for the stress concentration factor varying between as this will decrease the thermal conductivity of the webs. For
2 to 3, which are fairly acceptable values. The upper values are the sandwich panel the installation of mineral wool outside is
for symmetric loading at the ends and the lower values for the also a lot easier than for the conventional deck structures with
asymmetric load, or the load acting only at the bottom plate. numerous stiffeners to be surrounded by mineral wool whereas
Although this indicates that joints with a high fatigue performance for sandwiches, the coatings can be attached on a flat surface.

Figure 8 Comparison of sandwich panel fire characteristics with

Figure 7 Examples of joints with calculated stress concentration conventional deck structure [28]
factors [26] Slika 8 Usporedba poæarnih karakteristika sendviË panela i kon-
Slika 7 Primjeri spojeva sa izraËunatim faktorima koncentracije vencionalne palubne konstrukcije [28]
naprezanja [26]

56(2005)4, 305-314 309

P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS

for a higher sound transmission loss at lower frequencies. The

improvement of the insulation properties for the sandwich panel
was studied by putting a thin rubber mass on the panel surface
and mineral wool inside the panel. That somewhat increased the
sound transmission losses, being Rw=33 dB, through the panel,
but the increase is not sufficient to achieve the sound loss level
of the conventional panel in the frequency range from 300 to
1600 Hz. If high noise transmission losses are required then
additional floating covers are needed on the top or on the bottom
of sandwich panels.

5 Case study - optimisation of a steel sand-

wich hoistable cardeck
5.1 Scope
In order to demonstrate benefits of steel sandwich panels we
present one application in ship structures. A traditionally built
Figure 9 The behaviour of steel sandwich under fire can be impro- hoistable cardeck, a representative increment/segment of which
ved by using holes on the core plates [28] is seen in Figure 11, was redesigned with respect to minimum
Slika 9 Ponaπanje ËeliËnog sendviË panela izloæenog vatri moæe
se poboljπati buπenjem rupa na ploËama jezgre [28] weight and cost, applying the I-Core panel for decking. A similar
study was performed for the Vf-Core panel [29], however, this
4.5 Noise study did not consider optimisation of the supporting grillage
structure.
Noise behaviour of all steel sandwich panels is a special issue
which has not been widely studied so far. Reference [28] shows
an example of noise behaviour based on the laboratory
measurements, see Figure 10. It has been found that the sandwich
panel has better sound absorption characteristics than the
conventional panel at sound frequencies higher than 1600 Hz,
but at lower frequencies the conventional panel is somewhat
better. A higher mass of the conventional panel is the main reason

Figure 10 The measured sound transmission loss as a function Figure 11 Increment/segment of a traditionally built cardeck of
of the sound frequency for the tested steel sandwich the Variant A
panels [28] Slika 11 Segment tradicionalno graene palube za vozila, ina-
Slika 10 Izmjereni gubitak pri prijenosu zvuka kao funkcija frek- Ëica A
vencije zvuka za testirane ËeliËne sendviË panele [28]
In Figure 12 we can see a diagram for the redesign process of
a cardeck that results in several new optimised designs. After
suggesting improvements, such as the application of sandwich
panels, designer uses optimisation procedure to obtain the final
optimised designs that can be compared and selects one design.

Figure 12 Diagram for redesigning a cardeck [30]

Slika 12 Dijagram redizajna palube za vozila [30]

310 56(2005)4, 305-314

STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC

A key part of this diagram is the optimisation procedure presented

in [30] that with the help of some optimisation algorithm
automatically defines the optimum structures according to the
designer’s input.

5.2 Description of the study

The cardeck of interest, with properties given in Figure 13
and Table 1, is simply supported by pillars in four corners. Figure
14 shows how the cardeck is used on a ship as one part of a
global cardeck. The cardeck is considered to be loaded by
commercial vehicles that exert a local load of pLoc = 250 kPa on
tire print. There are 9 vehicles on the deck, so their total weight Figure 14 Usage of cardeck in working (loaded by commercial
is modelled with water pressure as global load of pGlob = 3 kPa. vehicles) and stowed position, to allow loading of high
vehicles, like lorries
These loads account for the motions of ship in waves, with Slika 14 Paluba za vozila u radnom (natovarena komercijalnim
characteristics given in Table 1. vozilima) i ukrcanom poloæaju, omoguÊen ukrcaj visokih
Two alternative concepts are proposed for redesign: sandwich- vozila kao πto su kamioni
grillage cardeck (Variant B), a sandwich panelled cardeck with
grillage supporting structure seen in Figure 15; sandwich cardeck
(Variant C), a sandwich panelled cardeck that only uses C girders
on perimeter, seen in Figure 16.

Figure 15 Increment /segment of the Variant B

Slika 15 Segment inaËice B

5.3 Design variables

The design variables included the scantlings of:
• Plating thickness (variant A only)
Figure 13 Top view of the cardeck with main dimensions • Sandwich panel (variants B and C only)
Slika 13 Pogled odozgo na palubu za vozila i osnovne izmjere • Scantlings of girders
• Geometry of grillage (variants A and B only)
Design variables for Variants A, B and C are seen in Figure
17, 18 and 19, respectively.
Table 1 Main particulars of the ship
Tablica 1 Osnovne izmjere broda

Length between perpendiculars, Lpp [m] 165.00

Breadth, B [m] 31.10
Draught, T [m] 8.75
Block coefficient, CB 0.54
Speed in service, V [kn] 19.0

The sandwich panel is considered to be filled with Figure 16 Increment/segment of the Variant C
polyurethane to increase several properties, among them, the Slika 16 Segment inaËice C
corrosion protection. Yet, the structural benefits, noted in [24]
and in [25], were not taken into account. Nevertheless the costs Following the complexity of the proposed redesigns the
were calculated and added to the total production expenses. number of design variables varied comparatively, so the design
On top of two alternative concepts, the initial design (Variant variant A had 20 variables, B had 24, and C had 11. All the
A), was also optimised so that the comparison of the design variables were treated as continuous variables. Bulb flats in
concepts can be established at the same level. Variant A were not optimised.

56(2005)4, 305-314 311

P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS

5.4 Design criteria

The hoistable cardeck was optimised for two criteria, the
weight and the cost of production, separately, hence optimum
structures were defined for each objective functions. Evaluation
of these two objective functions is straightforward, and they are
often expressed per unit area of the panel. Production cost is
computed from three different parts, cost of: 1) material, 2) labour
and 3) overheads as summarised by Rigo in [31]. The cost of
material is found on the basis of weight, by multiplying the weight
with the cost coefficient that is dependent on the thickness of
plates and size of rolled profiles (built-up profiles are made of
plates). In addition, if a panel is filled with a core filling material,
such as polyurethane, then the price of this material is included
Figure 17 Design variables of Variant A, for a) girder 1, b) girder 2, in calculations. Labour costs are generally evaluated on the basis
c) girder 3 and d) girders 4 and 5 of workload or needed man-hours. They could be separated into
Slika 17 Projektne variable inaËice A , za a) nosaË 1, b) nosaË 2, costs needed to produce steel sandwich panel and to produce
c) nosaË 3 i d) nosaËe 4 i 5 grillage. Sandwich panel is produced by laser welding in an
automated production facility and the costs are separated into
welding costs and preparation costs as described in [32] and [28].
Welding costs are dependent on weld length, while preparation
costs are calculated as a function of panelled area. Labour costs
needed to produce the grillage structure are based on the welding
length. Overhead costs include expenses of electricity, welding
electrodes, amortisation of equipment, etc. These are calculated
again on the basis of length of welds.
The cost of production was evaluated for the virtual workshop,
which was placed in the country with high standard of living and
had a relatively small production efficiency. This assumption
would resemble a workshop in a company that has just started
the business of producing hoistable cardecks.

5.5 Constraints

Figure 18 Design variables of Variant B, for a) girder 1, b) girder 2, According to the mathematical modelling of cardeck as a
c) girder 3 and d) girders 4 and 5 grillage, for variants A and B, and combined beam – orthotropic
Slika 18 Projektne variable inaËice B , za a) nosaË 1, b) nosaË 2, plate for Variant C, applied constraints were the following:
c) nosaË 3 i d) nosaËe 4 i 5
For Variant A:
Figure 19 Design variables of Variant C, for a) girder 1 and b) girder 2 • Buckling and indentation of plating
Slika 19 Projektne variable inaËice C , za a) nosaË 1, b) nosaË 2 • Buckling and yielding of T- girders’ webs
• Yielding of T-girders’ flanges
For Variant B:
• Buckling and indentation of SP’s top faceplate
• Buckling, yielding and plastic collapse of SP’s core
• Buckling and yielding of a SP’s bottom faceplate
• Buckling and yielding of a T- girders’ webs
• Yielding of a T- girders’ flanges
For Variant C:
• Buckling and indentation of SP’s top faceplate
• Buckling, yielding and plastic collapse of SP’s core
• Buckling and yielding of a SP’s bottom faceplate
• Buckling and yielding on a C- girders’ webs
• Yielding of a C- girders’ flanges
For all three variants maximum allowed deflection constraint
was applied in the amount of wawd = 50 mm. The constraints
formulae are described in detail in [32].

5.6 Parameters of genetic algorithm

Formulations for calculating objective functions, response
and constraints were coded by C++ as an input file for the genetic

312 56(2005)4, 305-314

STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC

algorithm Gallops [33]. Parameters from Table 2 were used to Table 2 Parameters of optimisation
find the optimum structure in 10000 generations. It was noticed Tablca 2 Parametri optimizacije
that much better results were reached with unusually high
Parameter A B C
probabilities of crossover and mutation.
α 100
5.7 Results
Length of the chromosome 140 168 77
Overall results are presented in Table 3. Minimum weight
P – weight [kg] 15000 20000 15000
design of Variant C was found to be the one offering considerable
weight savings of about 28 % and maximum of cost savings of P – cost [€] 45000 40000 30000
about 20 %.
Design Variant A did not results in any noticeable improve- No. of generations, nG 10000
ments. Minimum weight design offered only savings of about 11 Population size, np 30
%, but considering that the values of design variables have to be
rounded off to at lease 0.5 mm the savings could be lost. The Probability of crossing
conclusions can be drawn from this that the initial design was over, pc 0.91
quite close to the optimum and that further major improvements Probability of mutation, pm 0.33
with the traditional structures are limited.

Table 3 Results of the optimisation (values of best design are underlined)

Tablica 3 Rezultati optimizacije (vrijednosti najboljeg dizajna su podvuËene)

Variant Initial A B C
Design variable design Wt. Cost Wt. Cost Wt. Cost
Spacing between girders 2 I 3, a [mm] 3820 4819 4685 3257 4819 -
Spacing between girders 1 I 4, c [mm] 2424 3902 3376 1811 3379
Spacing between girders 4 I 5, d [mm] 2500 557 1184 452 505
Plating thickness, tp [mm] 6.0 6.5 6.5 -
Top faceplate thickness, tt [mm] 2.0 4.5 4.5 6.5
Core plate thickness , tc [mm] 3.0 4.5 2.5 2.5
Bottom faceplate thickness , tb [mm] 1.5 2.5 2.0 5.5
Core spacing, g [mm] 68.0 282.0 305.0 436.0
Height of the sandwich panel, hSP [mm] 26.0 25.0 300.0 203.0
Webplate thickness of girder 1, tw1 [mm] 6.0 6.5 6.0 6.0 6.0 6 6
Flange thickness of girder 1, tf1 [mm] 25.0 26.0 12.6 6.0 6.0 6 6
Flange breadth of girder 1, bf1 260.0 58.0 115.0 50.0 50.0 50 50
Height of girder 1, h1 [mm] 300.0 294.0 209.0 300 300
Web plate thickness of girder 2, tw2 [mm] 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6 6
Flange thickness of girder 2, tf2 [mm] 25.0 29.0 29.0 6.0 6.0 6 6
Flange breadth of girder 2, bf2 [mm] 330.0 202.0 270.0 53.0 50.0 53 50
Height of girder 2, h2 [mm] 300.0 300.0 298.0 300.0 300.0
Webplate thickness of girder 3, tw3 [mm] 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
Flange thickness of girder 3, tf3 [mm] 25.0 10.0 10.0 29.0 10.0
Flange breadth of girder 3, bf3 [mm] 230.0 50.0 59.0 138.0 53.0
Height of girder 3, h3 [mm] 300.0 100.0 104.0 300.0 296.0
Webplate thick. of girders 4 and 5, tw45 [mm] 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
Flange thickness of girders 4 and 5, tf45 [mm] 10.0 26.0 22.0 29.0 19.0
Flange breadth of girders 4 and 5, bf45 [mm] 200.0 114.0 192.0 130.0 166.0
Height of girders 4 and 5, h45 [mm] 300.0 300.0 300.0 300.0 300.0
Weight [kg] 13160 11678 11950 9320 11190 9462 13100
Specific weight [kg/m2] 107 94 96 75 90 76 105
Cost of production [€] 36300 36280 36040 3521 30640 30190 28920
Specific cost of production [€/m2] 263 293 291 284 247 243 233

56(2005)4, 305-314 313

P. KUJALA, A. KLANAC STEEL SANDWICH PANELS IN MARINE APPLICATIONS

Outcome of the optimisation of design variant B offers abso- R. (editor),”Steel Structures: Advances, Design and Construction”,
lute minimum weight design, but variant C wins due to lower Elsevier, p. 567-574.
costs of production. Nevertheless, variant B is a good potential [6] NORRIS, C., MONTAGUE, P. & TAN, K.H.: “All-Steel Structural
Panels to Carry Lateral Load: Experimental and Theoretical Behaviour”,
design solution that leads to conclusion that sandwich panelling, The Structural Engineer, Vol. 67, No. 9/2, May, 1989.
when supported by grillage is a much better solution than [7] TAN, K.H., MONTAGUE, P. & NORRIS, C.: “Steel Sandwich Panels:
traditional panelling. Finite Element, Closed Solution, and Experimental Comparisons, on a 6
mx2.1 m Panel”, The Structural Engineering, Vol. 67, No. 9/2, May 1989.
6 Conclusions [8] KNOX, E.M., COWLING, M.J. & WINKLE, I.E.: “Adhesively Bonded
Steel Corrugated Core Sandwich Construction for Marine Applications”,
There has been a lot of research activities in Europe related Marine Structures 11, 1998.
to the development of laser welded steel sandwich panels. The [9] SMITH, E.M., COWLING, M.J. & WINKLE, I.E.: “Adhesively Bonded
work carried out includes the development of design formulations Sandwich Structures in Marine Technology”, Proceedings of the 2nd
International Conference on Sandwich Construction, Gainesville,
for the ultimate and impact strength, analysis of fatigue strength Florida, 1992.
for the joints, and development of solutions to improve the [10] ROLAND, F., REINERT, T., PETHAN, G.: “Laser Welding in Ship-
behaviour under fire and noise. New factories have been establis- building – an Overview of the Activities at Meyer Werft”, Proceedings
hed to produce these types of panels, which enables larger scale IIW, Copenhagen 2002.
implementations of the panels for various types of ships in the [11] Meyer Werft. http://www.i-core.com, 25.03. 2005.
near future. [12] ROMANOFF, J, KUJALA, P.: “Formulations for the Strength Analysis
of All Steel Sandwich Panels”, Helsinki University of Technology, Ship
Optimal design of steel sandwich panel applications in ships
Laboratory, Report M-266, Espoo, 2002.
is a complex task, comprising many subtasks, such as load mo- [13] KUJALA, P., ROMANOFF, J., TABRI, K., EHLERS, S.: “All Steel
delling, response calculations and optimisation. Following this Sandwich Panels – Design Challenges for Practical Applications on
principle, a redesign of hoistable cardeck was performed, inclu- Ship “. PRADS 2004, 13-17 September, 2004, Lübeck, 2004.
ding the minimisation of weight and cost of production. Two [14] SANDWICH project, http://sandwich.balport.com/index1.html, 18 April
advanced sandwich alternatives were suggested instead of the 2005.
traditional panelled structure and were then optimised. [15] SAND.CORe project, http://www.sandcore.net, 18 April 2005.
[16] KUJALA,P., ROMANOFF, J., SALMINEN, A., VARIS, J. and VILPAS
Paper gives evidence that the hoistable cardeck with sandwich
M.: ”Steel Sandwich Structures”, MET-Technical Bulletin 1/2003.
panelling can now be designed in the preliminary faze without FIMET, Helsinki, 2003. 84 p. (In Finnish)
using the finite element methods. This seriously shortens the [17] Mizar Oy, http://www.mizar.fi, 18 April 2005.
design time, which is of great importance to a designer. One opti- [18] Meyer Werft: “Laserschweissen neuartiger Schiffskonstruktionen auf Basis
mization run, on a typical PC, took only couple of minutes, thus des verdeckten T-stosses”, FKZ18S0060, Papenburg, September 1999.
enabling the variability and offering more freedom to designer [19] ALLEN, H.G.: “Analysis and Design of Structural Sandwich Panels”,
to explore new concepts. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1969.
[20] ZENKERT, D.: “An Introduction to Sandwich Construction”,
Chameleon Press LTD, London, 1995.
Acknowledgements [21] Componeering Oy, http://www.componeering.com, 18 April 2005.
[22] KLANAC, A.: “Bending of Steel Sandwich Panels under Lateral
This paper has been partly supported by several organisations: Loading”, Helsinki University of Technology, Ship Laboratory, Report
European Commission, through the project Advanced Composite M-285, Espoo, 2004.
Steel Sandwich Structures (SANDWICH, 2004) and (SAND- [23] ROMANOFF, J. AND KLANAC, A.: “Design Formulations for Filled
CORe, 2005); and by a grant of Helsinki University of Techno- Structural Sandwich Panels”, Helsinki University of Technology, Ship
logy. This help is gratefully acknowledged. The second author Laboratory, Report M-288, Espoo, 2004.
would also like to acknowledge the help received from the staff [24] ROMANOFF, J.: “The Effect of Filling Material to the Local Ultimate
Strength of an All Steel Sandwich Panel”, Master’s Thesis, Helsinki
of the Faculty of Engineering, Chair of Naval Architecture of the Uni. Tech., Espoo, 2000. (In Finnish)
University of Rijeka, Croatia, with special gratitude to Mr. Davor [25] TABRI, K.: “Local Impact Strength of Sandwich Panels”, Master’s
Begonja, MSc, his master’s thesis advisor. Thesis, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, 2003.
[26] RADAJ, D.: “Design and Analysis of Fatigue Resistant Welded
References Structures”, Abington Publishing. Cambridge, 1990.
[27] EHLERS, S.: “Design of Steel Sandwich Panel Joints with Respect to
[1] WIERNICKI, C.J., LIEM, F., WOODS, G.D. and FURIO, A.J.: Fatigue Life”. STG Summer meeting in Szczecin, June 2004.
”Structural Analysis Methods for Metallic Corrugated Core Sandwich [28] KUJALA, P., METSÄ, A. & NALLIKARI, M.: “All Steel Sandwich
Panels Subjected to Blast Loads”, Naval Engineers Journal, May 1991. Panels for Ship Applications”, Shipyard 2000: Spin-off Project, Helsinki
[2] SIKORA, J.P. & DINSENBACHER, A.L.: “SWATH Structure: Navy University of Technology, Ship Laboratory, Report M-196, Espoo, 1995.
Research Development Applications”, Marine Technology, 27, 4, 1990, [29] ROMANOFF, J. and KUJALA, P.: ”The Optimum Design for Steel
p. 211-220. Sandwich Panels Filled with Polymeric Foams”, 6th FAST, Vol. 3,
[3] MARSICO, T.A. et al.: “Laser Welding of Lightweight Structural Steel Southampton, 2001.
Panels”, Proceedings of the Laser Materials Processing Conference, [30] KLANAC, A. and KUJALA, P.: “Optimal Design of Steel Sandwich Panel
ICALEO’93, Orlando, 1993. Applications in Ships”, PRADS, Lubeck-Travemuende, 2004, p.907-914.
[4] DENNEY, P.: “Corrugated Core LASCOR Structures in Shipbuilding [31] RIGO, PH.: “Least-Cost Structural Optimization Oriented Preliminary
and Other Applications”. Presentation Lightweight Sandwich Seminar, Design”, J. of Ship Production, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2001, p.202-215.
Helsinki, Finland, Oct. 1998. [32] KLANAC, A.: “Optimal Design of Cardeck Applying Sandwich Panels”,
[5] MONTAGUE, P. & NORRIS, C.: “Spot Welded, Corrugated Core, Master’s Thesis, Rijeka Faculty of Engineering, Rijeka, 2002. (In Croatian)
Sandwich Steel Panels Subjected to Lateral Load”, Int. Conf. on Steel [33] GOODMAN, E.D.: “Gallops: The Genetic Algorithm Optimized for
& Aluminium Structures, Cardiff, UK, 8-10 July, 1987. In Narayanan, Portability and Parallelism, System”, Michigan State University, 1995.

314 56(2005)4, 305-314