CNT REINFORCED BASALT FIBER BASED SHIP HULLS

V.Govind, J.Saravana Kumar, Shyam Venkataraman V, C.Elanchezhain, B.Vijayaramanath

Abstract: A hull is defined as the body of the ship. It is also one of the major parts of the ship since it carries most of the load. In general, many naval structures such as ships, combatants and small boats are generally made up of steel and aluminium. Even though steel and aluminium provide excellent strength and stiffness value it is highly corrodible and therefore subjected to frequent maintenance schedules. In recent research basalt fiber has grown great importance in naval application. Basalt is generic name for solidified lava which poured out the volcanoes. Basalt is 1/3 of earth Crust. .Basalt fibers were found to have fairly good mechanical properties than other fibers. It exhibits greater tensile strength, very high heat resistance, high impact strength, and strong alkali resistance and low moisture absorption. Basalt products can be used from very low temperatures (about –200?C) up to the comparative high temperatures 700 – 800?C. Therefore, this paper deals with the reinforcement of continuous basalt fibers with carbon nano tubes which overcomes the disadvantages of corrosion as well as lack of strength in naval structures. This kind of reinforcement is mainly utilized in civil constructions. But when put into use in naval structures it will greatly increase the mechanical properties of ships and lead to an increased performance in ships. This paper deals with the process of integrating basalt fibers into CNT and determining the mechanical properties of the resulting fiber and to determine how the newly created fiber will be useful in tackling the problems that are faced by today`s naval structures

Keywords: Carbon Nano Tubes, Basalt fibre, Mechanical properties, naval structures

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0319075