Ship Bulkhead Floating Connection Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Non-structural bulkheads in ships experience substantial deformation and instability due to stress transmission from structural elements, leading to potential collapse, and existing solutions like using heavy structural bulkheads as partition walls are economically and weight-wise disadvantageous.
Innovation Solution
A floating connection assembly is introduced, featuring a separation gap between the bulkhead and the constraint element, with a protrusion and a projecting element that oscillates within a hole, allowing decoupling of stresses and maintaining structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If non-structural bulkheads are made light and non-structural, then weight is reduced and economic efficiency is improved, but the bulkheads become susceptible to deformation and collapse under stress from structural elements
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between bulkhead and structural element is segmented into two independent parts: a protrusion on the bulkhead and a hole in the structural element. This segmentation allows the bulkhead to remain lightweight while the structural element alone bears the structural loads, preventing stress transmission to the non-structural bulkhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusion-hole connection acts as an intermediary mechanism that physically separates the load-bearing function (structural element) from the partitioning function (bulkhead). The protrusion passes through the hole to provide connection without creating rigid stress transmission, allowing the lightweight bulkhead to maintain stability.
2Reliability
If heavy structural bulkheads are used as partition walls, then structural stability is ensured, but weight increases and economic efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two functional components: the structural element that handles loads and the lightweight bulkhead that provides partitioning. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, eliminating the need for overweight bulkheads.
Solution Approach 2:
Structural reinforcement is applied locally only where needed (in the structural element and connection mechanism) rather than throughout the entire bulkhead. This allows the bulkhead to be lightweight in non-critical areas while maintaining stability through the reinforced connection system.
3Ease of manufacture
If corrugated bulkheads are used without structural reinforcements, then ease of manufacture and lightness are achieved, but the bulkheads cannot withstand loads from connected components and exhibit substantial flexions
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusion-hole connection serves as an intermediary that transfers loads from connected components directly to the structural element, bypassing the corrugated bulkhead. This allows the bulkhead to remain simple and easy to manufacture while the connection system handles the load-bearing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The load-bearing function is extracted from the bulkhead and assigned to the structural element through the protrusion-hole connection. This extraction allows the bulkhead to be simplified to its essential partitioning function without the complexity of load-bearing reinforcements.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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Figure 5
AI summary
A floating connection assembly (12) of a bulkhead (10) to at least one element of constraint (11) comprises a projection (14), integral to the element of constraint (11), at least one first longitudinal sealing bead (16), at least one projecting element (18), which protrudes from the bulkhead (10), at least a second flexible seal (22) and at least one closure plate (20), arranged in such a way that the bulkhead (10) and the element of constraint (11) are separated along an edge of the bulkhead (10), that the one first longitudinal sealing bead (16) is interposed between the bulkhead (10) and the projection (14), on which is present at least one through hole (14b) through which passes the projecting element (18), integral with a respective closure plate (20), so that the bulkhead (10) remains cantilevered on said protrusion (14), avoiding a different support, and that the projecting element (18) is free to oscillate inside the hole (14b).