Glass Fibre Reinforced

Plastic Option
(GRP)

Training Guide • Training Guide • Training Guide

Revision Log

Date Page(s) Revision Description of Revision Release

Updates

Updates to this manual will be issued as replacement pages and a new Update History Sheet complete with instructions
on which pages to remove and destroy, and where to insert the new sheets. Please ensure that you have received all
the updates shown on the History Sheet.

All updates are highlighted by a revision code marker, which appears to the left of new material.

Suggestion/Problems

If you have a suggestion about this manual or the system to which it refers please report it to the training department at

Fax +44 (0)1223 556669

Email training.uk@aveva.com

Copyright © 2004 Aveva Solutions Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means (graphic,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, taping, or otherwise) without written permission of the publisher.

Printed by Aveva Solutions Ltd on 16 February 2006

 Contents

1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 Aims: ...............................................................................................................................5
1.2 Objectives; ......................................................................................................................5
1.3 Prerequisites;..................................................................................................................5
1.4 Course GRP ....................................................................................................................5
1.5 Using this document ......................................................................................................6

2 Adaptations for GRP.......................................................................................................................... 7

2.1 Views ...............................................................................................................................7
2.2 Plane Panel Parts............................................................................................................8
2.3 Weight and Centre of Gravity.........................................................................................8

3 Definition of the GRP object.............................................................................................................. 9

3.1 LAMINATE_PLANE Statement .......................................................................................9
3.2 LAMINATE_BEAD Statement .........................................................................................9
EXERCISE 1 ............................................................................................................................................. 10

4 Special GRP Additions .................................................................................................................... 11

4.1 Plate...............................................................................................................................11
4.1.1 Planar Plate .............................................................................................................11
4.1.2 Shell Plate ...............................................................................................................12
4.2 Stiffener .........................................................................................................................13
4.3 Bead Statement.............................................................................................................14
4.4 Hole................................................................................................................................15
EXERCISE 2 ............................................................................................................................................. 16

3
4
 Chapter 1

1 Introduction
GRP ((Glass Fibre) Reinforced Plastics) is a technique to design and construct normally rather small vessels by
replacing the standard metal plates and profiles (made of steel or aluminium) by laminated plastics. The "plates" consist
of a relatively light and fragile core material that is reinforced by several layers of fibre carpets glued together to form a
tensile and endurable coating, normally on both sides of the "plates". Originally the carpets were made of glass fibres
but an alternative is to use coal fibres that are lighter and stronger.

There are several important differences compared to standard ships, e.g.:

 The thickness of "plates" is much larger that in a steel ship. This means that if the plate thickness can be
neglected in certain cases, it cannot for vessels built in GRP material (e.g. in drawings, in calculating volumes,
etc.).
 A consequence is that several different hull surfaces may be required, e.g. the outer ("wet") hull surface, the
innermost surface, the outer and/or inner surfaces of the core material.
 Normal ships have uniform material qualities whereas densities vary between layers in a GRP "sandwich".
 The amount of stiffening is less than in normal ships since the GRP "plates" are very stiff by themselves and
the stiffening that there is of a partly different type.
 Where members of standard ships are fillet welded together GRP members are connected in a different way,
e.g. by a combination of "beads" and fibre tissue.
 In a GRP vessel there are fewer parts and not so many small details like notches, clips/collars, etc

The TRIBON Hull application has an option that simplifies the design and production of vessels built in different variants
of the GRP technique.

Certain characteristics of the GRP technique are defined in a so called "GRP Object" that is defined by the customer and
stored in the Tribon data bank associated with the environment variable SB_OGDB. The existence of such an object is
compulsory for Tribon Hull to be able to run in "GRP mode". Tribon Hull is switched into GRP mode by defining the
Tribon environment variable SBH_GRP to __SBH_GRP_OBJECT__.

The GRP object is created via the Tribon Hull utility program inithull from an input file written in TIL format. The syntax of
this input is described to some detail below. The GRP object has the fixed name __SBH_GRP_OBJECT__.

1.1 Aims:
The aim of the course is to provide the skills required to use Tribon GRP functions in the most productive way.

1.2 Objectives;

 To familiarise user with GRP technique

 To create laminate panels

 To be able to use GRP module

1.3 Prerequisites;
The participants must have completed the Tribon M3 Drafting, Planar and Curved Modelling training courses.

1.4 Course GRP

Training will consist of oral and visual presentations, demonstrations and set exercises. Each workstation will have a
training project installed. This will be used by the trainees to practice their methods, and complete the set exercises.

5
1.5 Using this document
Certain text styles are used to indicate special situations throughout this document, here is a summary;

Menu pull downs and button press actions. Are indicated by bold dark blue text.
Information the user has to Key-in 'Will be red and in inverted commas.'
Annotation for trainees benefit

 Additional information
 Pay close attention to
 Refer to other documentation
System prompts should be bold and italic in inverted commas i.e. 'Choose function'

Example files or inputs will be in the courier new font, colours and styles used
as before.

6
 Chapter 2

2 Adaptations for GRP

Some additions have been made to the input languages for generation of Plane panels.
The GRP extension have been made for the following component types:
 Plate
 Stiffener
 Hole.

Moreover, a quite new component type has been implemented, the bead. This is corresponded by a new statements
type of the design language, the BEAD statement. Flanges, pillars and brackets have so far not been affected by the
GRP option and cannot be used with any reasonable meaning in a GRP vessel.

In addition, laminate information may be defined for shell plates.

The concept of material quality (keyword QUALITY in the design language) has got a somewhat changed meaning when
used in connection with the GRP option. It is used to define the density of the core material in kilograms per cubic meter.

The function to create a plane panel interactively (menu function Panel ( Create) has support for the changes to the
types of components mentioned above, including the quite new component type bead. Hull Curved Modeling supports
the definition of shell plates in the GRP technique.

2.1 Views
Views generated for a vessel modeled in the GRP technique differ to some extent from symbolic views for normal ships.

Panel sections:

Sections of panel plates will show the thickness including the thickness of the lamination.

Views of stiffeners:

In symbolic hull views stiffeners are in top views represented by its mould line, a material symbol and endcut symbols at
its ends. In GRP views the mould line is replaced by two lines indicating the actual width of the profiles and the material
and endcut symbols are skipped.

Holes:

Holes may be laminated along their edges. This lamination is (in planar views) indicated by a dashed contour parallel to
and outside the actual hole contour.

Beads:

In planar views beads will be indicated by a dashed line parallel to the boundaries along which they have been defined.
In section views, beads will be shown with their true size. Beads will be displayed both in symbolic planar views and in
3D views.

Beads belonging to the stiffeners will be shown in section view of the stiffeners.

7
2.2 Plane Panel Parts
Plane panels modelled in GRP mode will be split into plate parts in the same way as in a normal ship.
However:
 currently the parts will not retain any information about their lamination,
 they will be stored with the thickness equal to the sum of the core material and the thickness of the
lamination(s).

Moreover, the ppanparts program calculates and outputs areas of core material and of fibre carpets, considering the
number of layers of the lamination.

An example of ppanparts log file:

PANEL: BASIC-GRP_1

PLATES THICKNESS QUALITY STORING CODE COMMENT

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BASIC-GRP_1-1SP 60.0 650 3 LAM=L10/L11
Matta A 141.37 m2
Matta B 70.69 m2
Matta C 35.34 m2
Matris: 138.19 kg.

PROFILES NUMBER POSNO

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - -
BASIC-GRP_1/S1P 1 0
BASIC-GRP_1/S2P 1 0

2.3 Weight and Centre of Gravity

The WCOG calculation considers the GRP mode and calculates the individual contributions to the weight from the core
material and the laminate.

8
 Chapter 3

3 Definition of the GRP object

The GRP object is created via a function of hull utility program “Inithull”. The function requires input file written in a
language based on the Tribon Interpretative Language (TIL). The general principles for this language are described in a
separate document "TRIBON M2 Interpretative Language (TIL)".

The version of TIL used for creation of the GRP object has two different statement types:

LAMINATE_PLANE: The statement defines different laminates in "plates", i.e. it is surface oriented.
LAMINATE_BEAD: The statement defines laminates used for beads along panel boundaries.

The two statement types may occur in an arbitrary order in the input file. Since the number of instances of each of them
has a maximum of 99, this is also the limit number for statements of each type.

3.1 LAMINATE_PLANE Statement

LAMINATE_PLANE, <type_no_plane>
/ NAME = '<name>'
/ PERCENT_OF_GLASS = <glass>
/ DESIGNATION = '<designation>' (1...11)
/ GLASS_WEIGHT = <glass_weight> (1...11)
/ TOTAL_THICKNESS = <total_thickness>
/ TOTAL_WEIGHT = <total_weight>;

<type_no_plane>: An integer number in the interval 1-99 that identifies a specific laminate
combination. This number will be used for plates, stiffeners and holes to define the
lamination.
NAME: A name to identify the laminate.
PERCENT_...: The percentage of glass of the laminate.
DESIGNATION: The designation/name of a layer of the laminate.
GLASS_WEIGHT: The weight of glass (kg/m2) of the corresponding layer of the laminate
TOTAL_THICKNESS: Total thickness of this laminate.
TOTAL_WEIGHT: Total weight (kg/m2) of the laminate.

The number of DESIGNATION and GLASS_WEIGHT attributes must be equal and the values should match each other
in order of appearance.

3.2 LAMINATE_BEAD Statement

LAMINATE_BEAD, <type_no_bead>
/ NAME = '<name>'
/ WEIGHT = <weight>;

<type_no_bead>: An integer number in the interval 101-199 that identifies a specific laminate. This number will
be used to select the laminate at beads along boundaries.
NAME: A name to identify the laminate.
WEIGHT: Total weight per length of the laminate - unit (kg/m).

9
An example of input file:

LAMINATE_PLANE, 10
/NAME='L10'
/PERCENT_OF_GLASS=44
/DESIGNATION='A'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.7
/DESIGNATION='B'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.45
/DESIGNATION='C'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.6
/TOTAL_THICKNESS=2.9
/TOTAL_WEIGHT=3.99;
LAMINATE_BEAD, 101
/NAME='FL1'
/WEIGHT=0.55;

EXERCISE 1

1. Open grp_input.def file (training project def directory)

2. Define laminate LP3 and LP4. For laminate definition see below:

LAMINATE_PLANE, 13
/NAME='LP3'
/PERCENT_OF_GLASS=50
/DESIGNATION='QXLT850'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.815
/DESIGNATION='QXLT850'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.815
/DESIGNATION='QXLT850'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.815
/TOTAL_THICKNESS=1.96
/TOTAL_WEIGHT=3.62;

LAMINATE_PLANE, 14
/NAME='LP4'
/PERCENT_OF_GLASS=50
/DESIGNATION='QXLT850'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.815
/DESIGNATION='QXLT850'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.815
/DESIGNATION='QXLT850'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.815
/DESIGNATION='QXLT850'
/GLASS_WEIGHT=0.815
/TOTAL_THICKNESS=2.61
/TOTAL_WEIGHT=4.82;

3. Run Init Hull and create GRP object. See log file for results.

10
 Chapter 4

4 Special GRP Additions

To support modelling of vessels in the GRP technique certain extensions have been made to some of the input
statement of the design language of Planar Hull Modelling. Moreover, quite a new statement type has been introduced
for the modelling of beads along panel boundaries. The special features are also supported in interactive modelling of a
GRP vessel.

4.1 Plate
A new keyword, LAMINATE, has been added to the plate statement. It defines the laminate code (implies thickness,
designation and density of the laminate).

4.1.1 Planar Plate

Syntax:
PLATE, ...
[,LAMINATE = <lam1>[,<lam2> ]
, ...
;

<lam1>: Indicates the laminate code on the side of the plate pointing at the side of the positive w-axis (or as
indicated by MSIDE).
<lam2>: Laminate for the opposite side. If <lam2> is omitted, then <lam2>=<lam1>.

PLATE, ...,MAT=60, LAM=8,6, QUA=600;

In a GRP project QUAL is used to specify the density of the core material (in kg/m3).

An example of plate definition:

11
4.1.2 Shell Plate

12
4.2 Stiffener

Only two profile types are available for use for stiffeners, the normal flat bar (type 10, with or without supporting beads)
and a special profile type with a cross-section in the shape of a trapezoid. The latter has been assigned the profile type
99. Use of any other profile type will return an error message.

Syntax:
STIFFENER, ...
,LAMINATE = <lam side>[,<lam top>]
[,BEAD = <width>]
[,BPO = <bead_posno>]
, ...
;

<lam_side>: Defines the laminate code on the side of the profile.

<lam_top>: Defines the laminate code on the side of the profile. A missing <lam_top> means that <lam_top> will
be set 2* <lam_side>.
BEAD: Defines the leg length of the bead along the profile. If given, the profile must be of type 10.
BPO: Defines a position number of the beads.

 Stiffener type “10”

STI, PRO = 10, 200, 60, ...., LAM = 11, 12, QUA = 200, BEAD = 20, BPO = 4, ...;

 Stiffener type “99”

STI, PRO = 99, 300, 100, 80, ..., LAM = 12, QUA = 300, ...;

13
An example of profile definition form:

4.3 Bead Statement

In steel shipbuilding, welding is used to connect parts to each other. In the GRP technique, fillet connections are often
supplied with additional beads before the connection is laminated. The BEAD statement makes it possible to define
beads along the boundaries of the panel.

Syntax:
BEAD,
,LIMIT = <limit_no>
[,SIDE = <side>]
,POS = <pos_no>
,M1 = <width>
[,V = <angle>]
,LAMINATE = <lam>
,QUALITY = <quality>
;

14
LIMIT: Indicates the number of the boundary for which the bead(s) will be defined.
SIDE: Indicates the side of the panel where to position the bead. Possible values: FOR, AFT, SB, PS, TOP,
BOT. If SIDE is not given, beads will be defined for both sides of the panel.
POS: Defines a position number of the bead(s).
M1: The leg length of the section of the bead(s).
V: The corner angle of the bead, i.e. the angle between the current panel and the adjacent panel to be
connected to.
LAMINATE: Indicates the laminate code for the lamination of the bead(s).
QUAL: Defines the density of the core material of the bead(s).

An example of bead definition form:

4.4 Hole

It is possible (but not compulsory) to laminate holes. This means that the additions to the hole statement specified below
are optional.

Syntax:
HOLE, ...
[,LAMINATE = <lam>]
[,D = <width>]
, ...
;

LAM: Specifies the laminate code for the lamination around the hole.
D: Defines width of the laminate zone around the hole.

HOLE, D800, <hole position>, LAM =….., D = …..;

An example of hole definition:

After defining hole type, dimensions and position, the following will window will be displayed:

15
Key in laminate code and click OK. System will display the second form:

Key in laminate width around opening.

EXERCISE 2
Create internal structure of training ship between FR62 and FR70. For elements position and laminate information
please refer to class drawings in General drawings data bank.

16