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Making eco-friendly waves
27/01/2021
Building high-performance boats required strong materials. Typically, stainless steel is not even under consideration for ship construction, but that may be changing. In fact, governments and businesses the world over are starting to take an interest in a new, low-maintenance and environmentally friendly ship hull, built entirely from high-strength, molybdenum-containing super- and hyper- duplex stainless steel, at no additional cost.
© SSY
Depending on their size and purpose, ships are most commonly made of steel, aluminium or fiber reinforced plastic (FRP). No matter what, ships are generally expensive to keep because they are constantly exposed to water and humidity, which will break down nearly any construction material over time. Steel ships are strong and tough, but steel is heavy and requires corrosion protection and a lot of maintenance. Aluminum is light, but it is very soft, dents easily, has serious fatigue cracking problems, and corrosion is a concern. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic is very light, but it is expensive, can crack when it hits a rock and can even go up in flames if there is a fire on board.
Realizing the dream of building a lighter, faster and stronger vessel, entirely from stainless steel wasn't plain sailing for the entrepreneurs Hakan, Petra and Alistair Rosen of SSY. Traditional steels, such as austenitic Types 304 or 316, are not sufficiently corrosion-resistant to seawater. And while they are extremely tough, they are not that strong. However, when the entrepreneurs discovered the far superior qualities of super- and hyper-duplex stainless steels, in particular their great combination of high-strength and outstanding corrosion resistance, a seed was planted.
Find out how they designed and built eco-friendly vessels using stainless steels that contain up to 4% molybdenum.
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