Walls and panels for ships

Weight saving potential – walls

In shipbuilding we develop, partly together with our customers, complete concepts for components to save installation costs as well as energy during operation for the benefit of the ship owners. Our wall panel for shipbuilding Metawell® Alu hl 03-L03-03 hl / H12 weighs only 3.3 kg/m² with a thickness of 12 mm, including the HPL coating 4.6 kg/m² – an absolute lightweight panel.

Compared with standard panels with a purely metallic structure, this means a further saving of at least 2 kg/m². Extrapolated to 30 – 40,000 m² of C-walls, this corresponds to a weight saving for the cruise ship of 60 – 80 tons.

If we then compare our panel with a fiberboard panel, the lightest type on the market saves 183 – 244 tons for the same quantity, and the heavier type even 390 – 520 tons. At the same time, we have developed a tongue & groove system for these wall panels, which considerably reduces the installation costs.

Wall claddings for ships, boats, yachts & co.

With the use of large-sized Metawell^® panels the number of joints in the walls can be reduced. Using common fastening profiles, the panels can be mounted fast and flexible, e.g. tongue & groove. Curved parts and parapet claddings are implemented with the easily formable Metawell^® Aluflex.

Metawell^® Aluflex is the ideal panel for parapet linings and curved parts. It can easily be bent in one direction while staying rigid in the other direction. Furthermore it has a better attenuation characteristic than a solid aluminium sheet.

Installation of wall elements

Tongue & groove

Panels with a thickness of 10 mm are particularly suited for butt joints with tongue & groove systems. A simple slitting cutter is used to mill groove into the middle of the corrugation. Then, a flat aluminium profile in a groove-matching size is stuck into the corrugation. After that the second Metawell^® panel, which shows the same groove on the long panel side, is buttjointed.

The decisive advantage with the Metawell^® tongue & groove system is provided by the remaining corrugation.

Thanks to the 0.3 mm thick aluminium sheet used for the corrugation, which has high yield strength, the remaining corrugation parts stabilize the cover panels in the area of the groove and at the same time work as elastic spring elements. This connection levels out certain tolerances of angle drifts and allows for a tight fit of the profile. If needed the aluminium profile can additionally be fixed with the help of an elastic bond system (e.g. a moisture curing one-component system).

Hook system

Hook systems are ideal for the concealed attachment of Metawell^® wall linings in vessels. Support profiles are fixed to the body structure and levelled. The wall ele- ments are mounted onto the profiles with hooks.

These hooks can be fixed to the Metawell^® panel back with blind rivets. The rivet locks in the space between the panel‘s two cover sheets with the effect that the visible side of the panel shows no optical impairment.

Hat profile system

With the help of hat profiles all kinds of walls can be quickly assembled while leaving the desired flexibility with regard to design and shape. Tolerances may be evened out when adjusting the panels and profiles on the spot.

With this system a cover profile is pinched onto the profile that protects the construction against vandalism. The hat profile system shown is suitable for all Metawell® panels on condition that Metawell® Aluflex is additionally stuffed in order to guarantee a sufficient clamping strength. The hat profile system shown is suitable for all Metawell^® panel types.

Corners

When using Metawell^® Aluflex, a relining of the panel is necessary in the top hat profile to ensure sufficient clamping.

A special advantage of Metawell^® panels fixed with a hat profile, is the simple way to form corners. Metawell® panels with cover sheets of 0.8 mm thick- ness, that are milled on their back, can be used as corner elements.

Depending on the direction of the folding, inner or outer corners can be formed. Since the folding is done by hand, the corners can be adjusted at site. By milling the back of the panel different folding radii (depending on the milling geometry) can be realized. Thus it is possible to level out angle tolerances of the construction almost automatically. As purely metallic sandwich panel, Metawell^® has a low insulation effect, allowing a heat and fire insulation that is largely tailored to the place of use, as it clearly separates the “wall cladding“ and “insulation“ functions. Usually working with floating insulation, the insulation is inserted between structure and Metawell® panels.

More examples of wall cladding for ships, yachts and boats

Here you get back to the overview of lightweight elements for shipbuilding.

There you will also find our shipbuilding info folder for download, videos about our products, technical data sheets and much more.