Marine and Naval Architecture

Created on 11.13

In the field of marine and naval architecture, PMI foam material has become the core material choice for lightweight hull structures, deck core materials, and cabin partitions, relying on its core advantages of high strength and lightweight, resistance to marine environment corrosion, water resistance and flame retardancy, and excellent mechanical stability. Its application value and technical characteristics are highly adapted to the harsh requirements of marine equipment, as detailed below:

I. Application in Lightweight Hull Structures

Hull structures need to achieve maximum lightweight while ensuring navigation safety and structural strength, so as to improve ship speed and reduce fuel consumption. The high specific strength of PMI foam material (specific strength up to 2-3 times that of traditional hull materials) can reduce the hull weight by 30%-40% under the same structural strength, significantly optimizing the ship's propulsion efficiency and endurance. Meanwhile, its uniform closed-cell structure has excellent impact resistance and vibration resistance, which can effectively resist dynamic loads such as wind and wave impact and hull jolting during marine navigation, avoid structural deformation or fracture, and ensure the navigation stability of the ship under severe sea conditions. In addition, the material is non-absorbent and resistant to seawater corrosion, and will not expand, age or degrade in performance when immersed in seawater for a long time, extending the service life of the hull structure and reducing maintenance costs.

II. Application in Deck Core Materials

As a key load-bearing component of the ship, the deck needs to meet the requirements of load-bearing capacity, skid resistance and lightweight simultaneously. As a deck core material, PMI foam can be compounded with carbon fiber, glass fiber and other composite materials to form a "sandwich" structure deck. It not only retains the lightweight characteristics of the core material but also improves the overall rigidity and load-bearing capacity of the deck through the synergistic effect of composite materials, which can easily cope with daily loads such as cargo stacking and personnel movement, as well as the impact force when the ship berths. Its closed-cell structure also has good thermal insulation performance, which can effectively block the transmission of high and low temperatures in the marine environment, improving the living and working environment of the cabins below the deck. At the same time, the material meets the strict flame retardant standards of the marine industry (such as IMO FTP Code), releases no toxic gases during combustion, and has low smoke density, providing guarantee for ship fire safety.

III. Application in Cabin Partitions

Ship cabin partitions need to undertake multiple functions such as space division, noise reduction, fire prevention and thermal insulation. The lightweight characteristic of PMI foam material can reduce the impact of the partition on the overall weight of the hull, and its excellent sound insulation performance (can reduce noise between cabins by 8-15dB) can effectively block engine noise, wave noise and sound transmission between different cabins, improving the quietness and comfort in the cabins. In addition, the fire and thermal insulation performance of the material can delay the spread of fire, gaining time for personnel evacuation and rescue; its moisture resistance and mold corrosion resistance can adapt to the closed and high-humidity environment of ship cabins, avoiding the failure of partitions due to mold and corrosion, and ensuring the stability and safety of the cabin structure.

In addition, PMI foam material can realize customized processing through molding, cutting, compounding and other processes, adapting to the structural design needs of different types of ships (such as container ships, yachts, research ships, naval vessels, etc.). Its environmentally friendly and halogen-free characteristics also meet the green and low-carbon development trend of the marine industry, providing core support for the "lightweight, high performance, and high reliability" upgrade of marine and naval architecture equipment from the material end, and helping to improve the operational efficiency and safety level of marine equipment.