installation of strapping.

Epoxy filling of of material to be used in

the slot welded holes was specified only on doublers.
one ship, mentioned earlier, and
accomplished Et this proved to be The methodology of the complete
undesirable and the epoxy filling. was 1ater conversion desian was bevond the scone of the
removed. SSC project o; which ~his paper ;IS based.
Thereforer the design methodology outlined
In-Service Performance here concerns itself solely with the design
of hull strapping details covering the
Efforts to obtain in-service following areas:
performance data for past strappings from the
various sources were not fruitful. In most o Selection of proper location(s)
cases, such data “were not available”. Upon for doublers,
recommendation from the Ship Structure
Committee, the U.S. Coast Guard was requested o Scantlings and longitudinal
to provide such data for U.S. flag ships from extent of strapping,
their Inspection Reports Database. Several
inspection reports were received from the o Attachment. and welding .details,
local U.S. Coast Guard ‘Marine Inspectionn
and “Marine. Safety” offices throughout the o Fabrication and inspection,
United States. Upon review of these reports,
it” Was found that data-wereavailable on the o Cost effectiveness of design.
inspectionof doublerson one class of ship
only. For this class”of ship, cracks were Selection of.Strap Locations
found in the butt welds of both the bottom
end the deck’ doublers when inspected after Once the required cross-sectional area
the vessels had “been returned to service to be Provided bv the stramina is
following lengthening. All extensive determined: the desiqn~r should dec~~e in the
inspection program was undertaken optimum distributio~ of the added steel.
subsequently in order to identify any other Depending on the amount of additional steel
defects in the butt welds of all doublers on needed, one or more” doublers may have to be
this vessel. Many were found and repaired installed. The number and location of
using procedures approved by the cognizant doubler(s) to be added will be governed by
classification society. the type and arrangement of the ship to be
strapped. The” most widely used strap
The inspection reports did not identify locations for- tankers and containershi,p were
the cause of these cracks. It was also not shown in Figures 1 and 2. The possible
clear whether they were due to initial weld locations shown in these two figures are also
imperfections or if they had developed in applicable, respectively, to bulk carrier
service. type vessels and to RO/RO carriers and other
ships of similar design. If the structural
Methodology for New Strapping Desions arrangement of the vessel to be strapped is
such that the requi.~ed number of strapi can
The strapping of a ship’s hull is part be installed on the deck and/or bottom shell
of a. greater undertaking involving the plating, this may be the most cost-effective
conversion design for j@oizing of the approach. Ifr however, the available clear
vessel. In general, the structural aspects deck area is limited due to existing
of an overall conversion design involve the structure, fittings, or other obstructionson
following investigations: the deck, then locatingthe doublerson the
side shell plating may be the betterchoice.
o. Review of existing vessel’s Side shell doublersmay also be employed if
structural background, the additional cross-sectionalarea provided
by the deck and/orbottomshell doublersis
o Determination of classification not sufficient to meet the required section
society rules and USCG modulusof the jumboizedvessel.
regulations appli~able to the
conversion, For ships with continuous and effective
deep hatch coemings ~d/or hatch side box
o Determination of the converted girders of substantial scantlings, it may be
(i.e., ‘lengthened, widened, preferable to. install the doublers on the
deepened) ship’s required hull coamings or box girders.
girder strength,
Practical considerations such as the
o Computation of the section availability of dryd~cking facilities may
modulus to meet the required hull also play. a role in selecting strap
girder strength .on the basis of locations.- In order ..to -eliminate the need
longitudinal, and if necessary for drydocking, installing the doubler(s) an
torsional, strength analyses,- the deck,only may result in a less expensive
strapping design.
0 Computation of the cross-
sectional area to be provided by It becomes evident that a standard
the strapping based on the choice location for do~l~rs applicable to all ships

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