Harness: Development of a multifunctional protective ship bulkhead
conference paper
HARNESS is a joint project between governments, industry and TNO with the objective to develop a multifunctional protective bulkhead for application on naval vessels. The multifunctional bulkhead aims at increasing the resilience of naval vessels, reduce damage and repair time and provide a safer environment for crew and equipment against internal explosions. There are several technologies available to protect warships against the blast of an internal explosion. For fragments from a detonating anti-ship missile, there is no solution readily available which meets constraints of both mass and cost. Fire insulation on or inside the bulkhead must withstand the shock of the bulkhead bulging from the explosion, as well as the induced shock due to underwater explosion (UNDEX). The project was preceded by the HARDCORE project, in which TNO and partners assessed the effect of polymer pre-layers on armour steel in order to improve fragment resistance. We observed that a touching pre-layer on the armour steel enhanced the energy absorption by a factor two or more. This paper describes a test program to enhance the fragment resistance of armour steel by using maritime insulation materials and interior decoration as a pre-layer. By using such materials, high levels of integration and modularity can be obtained, thereby reducing additional weight and cost for the bulkhead and increasing the probability of actual implementation in naval vessels.
TNO Identifier
551107
Source title
Warship 2016: Advanced Technologies in Naval Design, Construction, & Operation, 15-16 June 2016, Bath, UK
Pages
1-4
Files
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