Composite materials in naval shipbuilding

Organic matrix composites have been used in naval shipbuilding for almost 50 years. Insensitive to corrosion and highly resistant to aggressive environments, these materials have naturally found an ever-expanding field of application. And yet, the development of composites in the naval sector is marked by a strong specificity, compared to other industrial sectors where composites also play an important role (civil or military aeronautics, pleasure boating...). This specificity is due to the weight of tradition, probably more pronounced than elsewhere, to the size and weight of the structures to be built (often several tens of tons), and to the importance of certain performances linked to military constraints.

This specificity is the subject of two articles in the Plastiques et Composites treatise:

• this article [AM 5 660] deals with composites, their transformation processes, and the properties that make them increasingly popular in this sector;

• the second article [AM 5 665] details the main applications, both for hulls and for ship components such as superstructures, masts, etc.