Bulk Carriers

Structural arrangement of typical bulk carriers

Marine Structural Engineering – MMA 167

Autumn Semester 2012

Oscar Lindecrantz oscarli@student.chalmers.se

Nicolas Iris niris@student.chalmers.se

Jeremy Peter jeremyp@student.chalmers.se

Structural Arrangement of Typical Bulk Carriers

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Table of Content

1 INTRODUCTION 3

2 STRUCTURAL ARRANGEMENT 4

2.1 BULKHEADS 4
2.1.1 COLLISION BULKHEAD 5
2.1.2 AFTER PEAK BULKHEAD 5
2.1.3 MACHINERY SPACE BULKHEAD 5
2.1.4 TANK BULKHEAD 6
2.2 FUNCTIONAL PARTS 6
2.2.1 DOUBLE BOTTOM TANKS 6
2.2.2 COFFERDAM 7
2.3 CARGO HOLDS 7
2.3.1 HATCH OPENINGS 8
2.3.2 TOPSIDE & HOPPER TANKS 9

3 STRUCTURAL DESIGN 11

3.1 MATERIALS 11
3.1.1 GRADES OF STEEL AND STRUCTURAL MEMBERS 11
3.1.2 HULL CONSTRUCTION 12
3.2 LIMIT STATES 13
3.2.1 SERVICEABILITY LIMIT STATE 13
3.2.2 ULTIMATE LIMIT STATES 13
3.2.3 FATIGUE LIMIT STATE 14
3.2.4 ACCIDENTAL LIMIT STATE 14

4 FUTURE TRENDS 14

5 BIBLIOGRAPHY 15

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1 Introduction

In the shipping industry a bulk commodity is a substance that is traded in large quantities and has
physical character which makes it easy to handle and transport in bulk. Bulk Shipping refers to
carrying cargo by mass and by sea. Transporting cargo in shipload is a strategy that has been around
for millennia. The grain transport in the Roman Empire, the Dutch “fly boats” in the 16th century or
the tea clippers in 19th century are examples of the history of bulk shipping. However, the modern
bulk shipping industry has its root in the developing coal trade of the 18th century between North of
England and London. At first, those bulk coal ships were wooden framed and wind powered. They
evolved in about half a century into iron-hulled, screw-propelled ships that could carry about 600
tons of coal which is more than double the amount of cargo as the previous generation of ships. The
following technical breakthroughs enable the bulk trade to develop more over the past two centuries
than during the past 4000 years. Nowadays, the bulk carriers’ capacity varies from 5,000dwt to
440,000dwt.

Bulk cargo can be divided in three main components which are the liquid bulk, the major dry bulk
and the minor bulks. We will treat here in this paper the dry bulk ships because we feel that the
liquid bulk cargoes are treated as tankers and are then dealt from another perspective. The main dry
bulk cargoes are iron ore, coal, grain, agricultural products, fertilizers, metals, minerals and steel
products. Those cargoes are transported in bulk because it is more economical to ship those goods in
large quantities.

The stake of bulk shipping is to minimize cost by maximizing cargo capacity and increasing the ship
efficiency. It is also very critical for the ship’s profitability to smooth out the cargo handling
operations as much as possible.

In this project we will overview the structural arrangement of a typical dry bulk carrier and we will
explore how the ship is laid out in order to maximize cargo capacity, ease cargo handling while
fulfilling the strength and design requirements.

We will first go over the structural arrangement of the bulk carrier ship by trying to understand the
role of the bulkheads and the functional parts of the ship. We will then go in detail over how the
cargo hold, the most important functional part of the ship, is constructed. There are many structural
elements that take parts into making cargo holds strong, safe and operable. The hatch and the hatch
opening is one more component of the cargo hold that we will look into in order to determine how
important the hatch opening is in regard to the ship’s overall strength.

In a second part, we will view over the structural design of the ship and we will then learn about the
choice of material of different parts of the ship, the four limit states on which the ship is designed
and a last minor part on how to determine the ship’s plates’ thickness accounted for omnipresent
corrosion.

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 Figure 1 Cape Hawk, a 161,425dwt ore bulk carrier

As a group, we base our research on the DNV’s common structural rules for bulk-carriers with length
90 meters and above dated from July 2012. We feel that this document is the stone base for
structural arrangement and design. We feel confident that the information provided in this
document is reliable.

All in all, it is important to remember that the ship’s design and structural arrangements serve one
purpose and that is to maximize the profitability of the ship while ensuring the seaworthiness and
the safety for all.

2 Structural Arrangement

In this part, we will describe the different bulkheads which will compose the structure of a bulk
carrier. We will explain where they are on the ship and their functional interest.

At the end of this part, we will present the cargo hold and all the different structural elements of a
bulk carrier.

2.1 Bulkheads
Transverse watertight bulkheads are very important to maintain the transverse form of the ship.
They are very strong and acting on the transverse strength of a ship.
All the ships are to have a number of watertight bulkheads to protect it. Bulk carriers are to have at
least the following watertight bulkheads to respect the classification:

- Collision bulkhead
- After peak bulkhead
- Bulkheads forming the boundaries of the machinery

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In function of the length of the ship, it can also have additional bulkheads like representing in the
following table.

Table 1

Most of the bulkheads are plates of steel joined and stiffened by vertical and horizontal stiffeners.
But it also exist a new technologies which use corrugated bulkheads, and which avoid to put some
stiffeners on the plate. The aim of these technologies is to have a good resistance with a light weight.

2.1.1 Collision bulkhead

Collision bulkhead is the most strong and forward bulkhead of the ship, which has a very important
safety feature. Its aim is to keep the water out of the hull in case of a collision.

This bulkhead is positioned vertically and transversely. To fulfill its role, this watertight bulkhead has
to be located near the forefoot (between 0,05 and 0,075% of the length of the vessel, with a
maximum of 10 meters from the forward oh the ship), between the bottom of the hull to the
underside of the deck. Moreover, it is important for the watertight to have a collision bulkhead
without door, hole or any other opening.

Figure 2 Fore Peak

The space between the forward of the ship and the collision bulkhead will created the fore peak tank
(where we can found some water ballast), and after it, there is the first hold.

2.1.2 After peak bulkhead

The after peak bulkhead is situated at the bottom of the ship. It is also a watertight bulkhead, which
aim is to assure a watertight compartment to the stern tube and the rudder trunk. To the security,
and to respect the classification, the after peak bulkhead is to extend to the first watertight deck
above the waterline.

2.1.3 Machinery space bulkhead

The aim of the machinery bulkhead is to create a watertight compartment around all the machinery
compartment of the ship.

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2.1.4 Tank bulkhead
The tank bulkheads have to separate the different holds of the vessel. They have to be watertight to
protect the cargo, but also to prevent the mixing of cargo. They also have to resist to the pressure
apply by the cargo and its movement.

Between two holds, there is always some space (between the bulkhead of 2 different holds), in case
of default of one bulkhead. Moreover this space is use to lead inspection and survey of the ship (we
will talk to this space later)

It is also possible to have some bulkheads in the longitudinal direction inside the hold. The aim is to
separate the cargo to reduce the influence of their movement. It is truer when it is liquid cargo.

The movement of the liquid or dry cargo created a free surface effect, which can be dangerous for
the stability and the structure resistance of the ship.

2.2 Functional parts

The structural elements are making different functional parts for the ship to be operated safely,
effectively.

2.2.1 Double bottom tanks

Double bottom tanks have to be enough high and wide to let enter one person for inspection or
maintenance. The aim of double bottom tank is to create some tanks for ballast with water or fuel. It
is also use for the passage of pipes and cable.

The second interest is to put the most important part of the structural element on the other side of
the tank, like that the tank is just compose of smooth surface. It increases the volume of the hold,
and simplifies the internal structure. It is easier to load and discharge the ship, but also to clean the
hold.

All these advantages are obtained without a big increase of the weight, and without loss of the
volume of the hold.

Most of the time, this configuration is discontinued in the fore peak tank and in the after peak tank.

DOUBLE BOTTOM

Figure 3 Double Bottom

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2.2.2 Cofferdam
Cofferdam is watertight space between two watertight bulkhead, which can be empty or use for
ballast.

The aim is to protect two different watertight compartments, to avoid a mix of cargo, or than water,
oils or fuels go to the machinery compartment.

In bulk carrier vessels, we have to find cofferdams between compartments of liquid hydrocarbon like
fuel oil, lubricating oil; but also for those of fresh water like drink water, water for propelling
machinery, water for fire extinguishing …

Figure 4 Cofferdam

2.3 Cargo holds

A typical cargo hold for a Bulk carrier can be seen in figure 5. The structural arrangement is designed
as to being able to carry large volumes of dry cargo (Iron ore, coal, grain, etc.). The cargo has to be
loaded and discharged with cranes or suction pipes which requires the availability of open hatches
during the cargo handling and will have an impact on the section properties of the hull girder.

Because of the heavy cargo load the structure has to be designed to withstand high static loads
acting on the hull, such as the ship’s structural weight, cargo & ballast load and the hydrostatic
pressure from the sea water.

Figure 5

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As mentioned earlier the double bottom enables the use of ballast system, as well as safety reasons
in case of grounding or other underwater damage. Also this double bottom can be seen as a safety
reason should the tank top get damage from the cargo due to high pressure over a long period of
time or forces occurring when loading.

In general all bulk carriers are designed with limitations imposed upon their operability to ensure
that the structural integrity is maintained according to classification societies. Exceeding these
limitations may result in over-stressing of the ship's structure which leads to failure in the hull. Each
ship has a restricted operational loading condition upon which the design of the hull structure has
been based.

2.3.1 Hatch openings

Because bulk carriers have these hatch openings, see figure 6, the transvers hull girder will not be
continuously longitudinal throughout the hull. Having these open sections will have an impact on the
shear stresses, which integrated over the vertical parts of the transvers section will give the hull
girder shear force. In other words the hatches will have an impact on the forces that will distort the
side shells and the longitudinal bulkheads in shear deformation.

Figure 6 Open Hatch

In order to sustain the forces in these open sections the hull structure needs additionally support.
This is achieved by strengthening of the ribs (supporting members defined as structural elements) in
the structure, together with the coaming which surrounds the hatch. These elements are divided into
two types, primary and secondary members. Some of these primary elements are extra important on
bulk carriers and the area around the hatches; such as the hatch/deck beams and the transverse
girders.

The transvers girders act as support to the ship’s hull and there function is to transmit forces acting
on the ship across the total hull girder, thus distributing the loads on a larger surface rather than

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have a single area absorbing the total force. Since there are high pressure areas around the hatches
and section openings, additional transverse girders are here needed to maintain the shape of the
hatch.

Secondary elements, such as stiffeners and longitudinals, are then placed continuously over the
breath and length of the hull and bulkheads. Also inside the hatch coaming, stiffeners are being
placed. The purpose is to prevent the plate areas of the ship from distorting under the influence of
the shearing loads, bending moments and local lateral loads. This is no unique matter only
concerning bulk ships, they can be found on all ships, what differs is the amount and locations of the
structural elements as well as the dimensions because bulk carriers can be very large.

Hatch openings do not only need to be strengthened against shear forces, but also against impacts
caused by grabs during loading and discharging.

Figure 7 Longitudinals, girders and stiffeners

2.3.2 Topside & Hopper tanks

Other structural properties seen in bulk carriers are the topside and hopper tanks. The topside tanks
have a triangular shape and there purpose is to carry ballast water. Bulk carriers often have to travel
without cargo and thus need large amount of ballast water space. The tank consists of a transverse
ring made from frames in the transverse direction supporting the deck and side plating, strengthened
by longitudinals. The Hopper tanks are located at the side of the vessel within the bottom wing of
each cargo hold and have the same structural properties as the topside tanks. They are the
continuation of the double bottom tanks and thus also contribute to the ships ballast system. As
mentioned earlier the tank plating needs to be able to sustain static and dynamic loads due to the
cargo.

The reason that bulk carriers contain these side tanks is because the structural layout has to be
arranged in this way because of the cargo. The cargo hold is shaped in a way to reduce the shift in
cargo during voyage and avoiding the free surface impacts it will have on the stability of the ship.
Also the sloping angle of the tanktop sides collects the cargo in central part of the hold and makes
discharging easier.

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 Figure 8 Transverse Web

Figure 9 Cargo hold Cross-section

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3 Structural Design

Structural design deals with the analysis of the structure in order to be able to support external and
internal forces acting on the structure. On ships, the water resistance, the waves, the viscous flow
and the weight of the ship and cargo are all examples of forces acting on the designed structure.
Several criteria come into play when designing a ship’s structure. The choice in materials is a crucial
turning point since each material has definite properties in terms of strength, flexibility, stiffness,
resistance to choc, etc. Over the years, classification societies have come up with elaborate grades of
materials, which become rules and regulations that ship builders must comply with. Another
important point that we will be treating in this paper is the limit states that the ship builders base
their structural analysis on. The limit states are the calculation methods used to determine the higher
or lower limit of design choices. The last topic, we are discussing in this paper is the thickness of the
plates and beams and how the corrosion must be taken into account when choosing the plates
thickness.

3.1 Materials
The materials used for shipbuilding is subjected to verification and standardization from the
classification societies. For shipbuilding materials, the major classification societies registered in IACS
(DNV, ABS, etc.) use the Society Rules of Materials as stepping stone for steel grades and metal
grades. ABS is one classification society that graded the structural steel, which are standardized for
use in shipbuilding.

3.1.1 Grades of steel and structural members

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) classified the steel grades into several categories. The
categories have different grades (A, B, D, E, F), two strength levels (normal-strength and higher-
strength), and finally classes ranging from I to III. Each category has different strength properties.

Each part of the ship is subjected to rules on which material to use. To illustrate that, the table below
sums up the material grades to be used for the structural parts of the ship.

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 Material Classes and Grades
Structural Member Category Material class/grade
SECONDARY MEMBERS
Longitudinal Bulkhead strakes Class I within 0.4L amidships
Deck plating exposed to weather Grade A/AH outside 0.4L amidships
Side plating
PRIMARY MEMBERS
Bottom plating, incl. Keel plate
Strength deck plating
Continuous longitudinal members above
strength deck Class II within 0.4L amidships
Uppermost strake in longitudinal bulkhead Grade A/AH outside 0.4L amidships
Vertical strake (hatch side girder)
Uppermost sloped strake in top wing tank
SPECIAL MEMBERS
Sheer strake at strength deck Class III within 0.4L amidships
Stringer plate in strength deck Class II outside 0.4L amidships
Deck strake at longitudinal bulkhead Class I outside 0.6L amidships
OTHER structural members
Strength deck plating at corners of cargo hatch Class III within 0.6L amidships
openings Class II within the rest of cargo region
Class II within 0.6L amidships
Bilge strake
Class I elsewhere
Class III within 0.4L amidships
Longitudinal hatch coamings of length greater Class II outside 0.4L amidships
than 0.15L Class I outside 0.6L amidships
Not to be less than Grade D/DH

Table 2 Material Classes and Grades

3.1.2 Hull construction

For bulk carriers, the higher-strength steel is to be used for hull construction. All ABS steels are
standard carbon steels. There are two types of ABS Steels, ordinary-strength and higher-strength
steels.

Below, there is a table summing up the minimum yield stress and ultimate tensile strength
requirements for each of the higher-strength steel used for the hull construction

Steel Grades for plates with Minimum Yield stress ReH, in Ultimate tensile strength Rm, in
t≤100mm N/mm2 N/mm2
A-B-D-E 235 400 – 520
AH32-DH32-EH32-FH32 315 440 – 570
AH36-DH36-EH36-FH36 355 490 – 630
AH40-DH40-EH40-FH40 390 510 – 660
Table 3

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We can see in the table above that the steel grades vary in minimum yield stress and ultimate tensile
strength. There exists several numbered grades such 32, 36 and 40, as seen above. For example, the
“32” grades have yield strength of 315 MPa, and ultimate tensile strength of 440-570 MPa.

It is important to note that it is possible to use other materials such as alloys or aluminum for certain
part of the structures. In such cases, the classification society must inspect and approve on a case-by-
case basis.

3.2 Limit States

Limit states plays a crucial role in designing the structure because it is where the engineers are
computing the possible design in order to fulfill all requirements in terms of safety, fatigue, strength,
etc. A limit state is a condition of a structure beyond which it no longer fulfills the relevant design
criteria.

When designing the structure of the ship, a structural strength assessment must be run throughout
the major construction members. A yielding check, a buckling check, a ultimate strength check and
finally a fatigue check are the four checks to be run in the structural strength assessment. The
construction members that are concerned by this assessment are the plating, the ordinary stiffeners,
the hull girders and the primary structural members.

There is four limit states onto which the shipbuilders can rely: the serviceability limit state, the
ultimate limit state, the fatigue limit state and the accidental limit state. All four of them are
concerned by a specific use of the ship and they each have specific strength criteria. The global
design of the ship is then based on all four of them.

3.2.1 Serviceability limit state

To satisfy the serviceability limit state criterion, a structure must remain functional for its intended
everyday loading conditions, but also not cause discomfort to the occupants under routine
conditions. Serviceability limit state concerns the normal use of the ship including local damages or
unacceptable damages, which may reduce the working life of the structure or affect the efficiency or
appearance of the structural members.

The serviceability limit state has strength criteria regarding the hull girder, the plating and the
ordinary stiffener. For the yielding check of the hull girder, the stress corresponds to a load at 10-8
probability level. The same probability level applies for the yielding check and the buckling check of
the plating. Again the same value of 10-8 probability level applies for the yielding check of an ordinary
stiffener.

3.2.2 Ultimate limit states

Ultimate limit states correspond to the maximum load-carrying capacity. To satisfy the ultimate limit
state, the structure must not collapse when subjected to the peak design load for which it was
designed. It takes into account the attainment of the maximum resistance capacity of sections,
members or connections by rupture or excessive deformations. It also includes the instability of the
structure.

The ultimate strength of the hull girder is to withstand the maximum vertical longitudinal bending
moment obtained by multiplying the partial safety factor and the vertical longitudinal bending

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moment at 10-8 probability level.
The ultimate strength of the plating between ordinary stiffeners and primary supporting members is
to withstand the load at 10-8 probability level.
The ultimate strength of the ordinary stiffener is to withstand the load at 10-8 probability level.

3.2.3 Fatigue limit state

Fatigue limit state relate to the possibility of failure due to cyclic loads. The fatigue life of
representative structural details such as connections of ordinary stiffeners and primary supporting
members is obtained from reference pressures at 10-4 probability level.

3.2.4 Accidental limit state

Accidental limit state considers the flooding of any one cargo hold without progression of the
flooding to the other compartments and includes the maximum load-carrying capacity of hull girder,
the maximum load-carrying capacity of double bottom structure and the maximum load-carrying
capacity of bulkhead structure.
In accidental limit state design, it is necessary to achieve a design such that the main safety functions
of the structure must not be impaired during any accidental event or within a certain time period
after the accident. The structural design criteria for the ALS are based on limiting accidental
consequences such as structural damage and environmental pollution.
Since the structural damage characteristics are strongly depends on the type of accident, there is no
straightforward method to apply to the calculations. Typically, for a bulk carrier ship, accidental
scenarios must be decided along with the risk assessment. Accidental scenarios include collisions,
fire, flooding of comportments, excessive loads, etc.

4 Future trends

The stake of carrying merchandise in bulk is to maximize profit and minimize risks. In these terms,
the future of bulk carriers lays in the risk reduction by strengthening hot spots and studying the
effect of flexibility of the structure. Another aspect to be looking at is the maximization of the cargo
capacity. It could be beneficial to lower the light weight of the ship by having thinner and lighter
materials that would have the same or better strength characteristics as the current steel. Moreover,
both the cargo hold openings and structures can be developed further in order to reduce difficulties
and smooth out the cargo handling. Both are involved in maximizing profit for the ship owner.

Nowadays, the maximum cargo carrying capacity of the bulk carriers no longer increases significantly
because of economies of scale matters. Therefore, the ships are not likely to grow much bigger. The
biggest current challenge is to reduce the ship’s resistance and weight in order to increase fuel
efficiency. The future developments will most likely act toward this aim.

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5 Bibliography

American Bureau of Shipping. ”Rules for Materials and Welding.” 2012.

Bulk Carriers guide. 2012.

Det Norske Veritas. ”Common Structural Rules for bulk carriers with length 90m and above.” July
2012.

IACS. ”Guidance and Information on Bulk Cargo Loading and Discharging to Reduce the Likelihood of
Over-stressing the Hull Structure.” 1997.

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