The application of carbon fiber is making progress in the fields of small boats, yachts, large ships, and other ships. Carbon fiber is an ideal material for use in the field of shipbuilding, as it can reduce ship vibration and maintain a good wireless communication environment between ships.
In addition, the most important reason for using carbon fiber is that this material can improve the speed and fuel economy of ships by reducing weight. For example, by completely replacing glass fiber composite (GFRP) with carbon fiber reinforced composite (CFRP), the weight of the ship can be reduced by 30%.
The following figure shows the application of carbon fiber and its composite materials in yachts. By using CFRP in the superstructure and deck installation, weight can be further reduced and the stability of the ship can be improved; Carbon fiber transmission shafts can also reduce weight and vibration; Carbon fiber also has potential wide applications in propeller blades.
Traditionally, GFRP materials are commonly used in the shipbuilding industry. Due to the use of intermediate substrates such as fabrics and their forming processes, GFRP can also be applied to CFRP, making it easy to replace the original GFRP components of ships with CFRP.
In most aircraft and sports applications, almost half of the matrix resin uses epoxy resin. However, in the shipbuilding industry, most CFRP matrix resin materials use unsaturated polyester or vinyl ester resin. In order to expand the shipbuilding industry, some companies such as Japan's Toray have developed carbon fibers that can provide higher bonding strength with vinyl ester resins and use them in a wide range of shipbuilding applications.
CFRP not only has high specific strength and high specific modulus, but also utilizes its damping performance to increase the natural vibration frequency of the ship. For example, by using CFRP in areas where engines and auxiliary equipment are installed, it can effectively reduce ship vibration caused by engine and auxiliary equipment operation.
In addition, the conductivity of CFRP can also be fully utilized, and by using CFRP to wrap the walls of the wireless communication room, a shielding effect of 40dB or higher can be achieved. This means that by using CFRP, problems such as engine and auxiliary noise interference caused by electromagnetic waves passing through ships that hinder wireless communication can be solved.
In addition, the shipbuilding industry extensively uses mixed composite materials composed of carbon fiber, glass fiber, or aramid fiber fabrics. By using composite materials for optimal design, target performance and comprehensive cost balance can be achieved. For example, when using traditional glass fiber composite materials, optimizing composite material combinations can be achieved by only using carbon fibers in areas that require rigidity, meeting performance requirements while reducing costs.