Why Aluminum Yacht Building?

Here you will find some Advantages and Disadvantages of an Aluminum Yacht Building

Today, more and more companies in yacht building sector use aluminum for their boat construction projects. People who want to build a yacht regularly ask about why I should choose aluminum as a hull material? There are many answers of these specific questions and we will try to list some of those in this article.

People always think about that some steps of aluminum yacht construction are tough and it is not easy to build classy hulls. Working on aluminum plates and processing it needs some professional labor awareness. Even if you have a vast experience in steel welding, aluminum welding requires more intense knowledge and it can be relatively difficult.

The main characteristics of aluminum plates are that they have chemically high rates of thermal conductivity and low melting point. Due to this feature, your welders may face with burns in welding process unless they look for given actions of aluminum welding.

Furthermore, using welding wires requires some attention because the aluminum wire is softer compared to steel wires. Before starting the welding process, the welders have to clean the material surface carefully and remove any chemical contaminations. When removing the oxides from aluminum surfaces, you need to use a stainless-steel brush simply in one way. Do not use your wire brush too hard as hard brushing may harm the material surface. In order to make a smooth welding, you also need to heat your aluminum in advance. Only in this way you can avoid from any welding cracks. The most frequent shielding gas used when welding aluminum is Argon. You also need to use an aluminum wire in your welding. Using a proper welding gun is also important aspect in your welding process. Try using a separate welding gun liner. Normally, if you reach over 200 A, change your welding gun and use a water-cooled gun. This helps to reduce the heat and makes your wire changing application easier. The whole process of aluminum welding is called as Gas-Metal-Arc-Welding (GMAW).

Another major point of an aluminum hull yacht construction is that the material cost. Aluminum, compared to other materials used in yacht building, is expensive. Steel plates are cheaper but when it comes to maintenance costs, aluminum becomes more and more advantageous. Some advantages of Aluminum boat building is no heavy weight, more strength and effortless processing.

Different two metals have different electric loads on their electrodes. Once they interact in electrolyte solutions, the first one is called anode and the other one is cathode. When anode spreads, the cathode accumulates the deposit. This is called galvanic corrosion. Aluminum alloy has low thermal corrosion point and it is an un-noble metal.

When you look at closely on some aluminum yachts, you can easily notice paint damages around stainless steel equipments. When two metals interact, the corrosion happens.If you do not provide an efficient electrical isolation between the steel and aluminum, the aluminum hull becomes anode and this leads to insistent galvanic corrosion on the hulls of your yacht. For instance, welding in steel is more challenging compared to aluminum welding. This will turn you as an extra labor costs. Steel needs to be sandblasted before prim painting, and is heavily in weight so it is reflected in your operating costs. Steel is used for larger yachts and commercial ships more often.

According to SOLAS rules, the boats have to be built in non-flammable materials. You can reach this standard by using aluminum on your hull. This strict rule also requires that your yacht has to have structural fire fighting systems and different watertight partitions. For example, when it comes to constructive fire fighting issue on composite yachts, you will have some problems to meet the curtain standards.

New aluminum alloy yachts are built in 5000 series plates. This series of alloy contains both aluminum and magnesium. Most of the masts of the sail yachts are built by anodized 6061 series and this includes some copper.Cooper causes more corrosion when it interacts with salt water and this leads to deterioration of paint. Therefore building your yacht in 5000 series of alloy will make your boat long lasting because this does not contains cooper.

Why Aluminum Yacht Building?

Why Aluminum Yacht Building?

Why Aluminum Yacht Building? | articles

articles-Why Aluminum Yacht Building?