Kul-24.

4130
Shipyard engineering

Lecture 3-1:
Hull production - Product hierarchy and block division

Applied Mechanics
Marine Technology
Lecture in course contents
Production Introduction
planning

Shipbuilding process and

ship yard productivity

Outfitting

Design process
and materials
management

Hull production
Objectives, contents and literature
• Learning objective:
– You understand the hull product hierarchy and the main aspects
which affect it
– You are able to form a ship’s block division and understand the
main factors affecting it
• Contents:
– Hull product hierarchy
– Advantages of block construction method
– Block division
– Examples
• Literature
– Laivatekniikka. Räisänen toim., 2000
– Ship production, Storch et al., SNAME, 1995
 Background
• Ship hull is built in
blocks, but why?
Definition of a block
• Block is defined as a
part of the hull or
superstructure, which
is jointed to other
similar parts in the
building dock
• Block is composed of
– sub-blocks
– sub-assemblies or
– parts
Product hierarchy

Ref: Ship
production,
Storch et al.,
SNAME, 1995
Stages of hull production
Hull Block Sub-block Part Part
erection assembly assembly assembly fabrication
Block
101
Plates
Block
102 Frames
Sub-block
103A Beams
Block
Hull

103 Sub-block
Web frame KA. 321 Web plate
103B
Block Flange
104 Sub-block Bulkhead KA. 123 Stiffener
103C
Block
Block
105
105 Standard
parts
Block
Block
106
106

Work flow
Part fabrication
Part assembly
Sub-block assembly
Block assembly
Block assembly
Block assembly
Block assembly
Block assembly
Block assembly
Advantages of block construction method
• Productivity
– Automation (welding, production lines)
– Ability to turn the blocks
– Specialization (e.g. painting hall )
– Ability to outfit (block openness)
– Short transporting distances
– Good working environment (working inside: lighting, temperature, noise, air
quality)
• Environmental issues (paint, shielding gases)
• Delivery time, invested capital
– Shorter lead-time of steel (Shorter hull erection time, numerous blocks are
worked in parallel)
– Fewer launching platforms, but more block assembly areas
– Outfitting overlaps with steel production, and thus the ship lead-time is shorter
Block size

Extreme cases:
• The hull is assembled on a building dock from
individual parts, which are produced by part
manufacturing
• The ship is lifted into the water as one block

In practice, when new shipyard is designed, the

solution is somewhere between these two!
Block division
Affecting
factors?
Block division

Criteria when shipyard is known:

• Weight restrictions (lifting, transporting, turning, center of gravity)

• Scantling restrictions (length, width, height)

• Plate length (production line, delivery of material)

• Hull construction

• Production suitability (location and length of weld seam)

• Strength of block (transportation, lifting)

Block division
• Assembly
suitability
– Location of weld
seam in sub-block
– Existence of
reference plane
– Utilization of
shipyard
equipment
• Productivity
– Number of similar
blocks
• Weight of outfitting
Influence of block division on outfitting
• Well designed block division is essential for succeeding in
block outfitting
– The location of equipment with respect to block boundaries
– Hauling of equipment into the block
– Hauling of equipment in the hull erection stage, before the lifting of the next covering
block
– Hauling possibilities within the hull
– Late lifting of expensive equipment
– Timing of materials

• Painting (e.g. tanks should be intact within block)

• Building method
• Drawing method
• Timing of drawings
Examples
Examples
Examples
Examples
Examples
Example assignment
• Divide the cruise ship
cross-section into
blocks, taking into
account block’s
– Weight (< 300 ton)
– Size (h<10m, b<20m)
– Suitability for
production and
assembly
– Productivity