In: Chemistry
1. Structural steels have traditionally been used in shipbuilding; however, with
increasing fuel costs, it is desirable to find alternative lower weight materials.
Some of the key properties required for shipbuilding materials are high yield
strength, high corrosion resistance, and low cost. Discuss the benefits and
disadvantages of aluminum alloys as a replacement for structural steels in ships.
The alluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth but we can't find it pure but in a mix with differents materials. The alluminum alloys are very use in the industry because mix with different materials can have a number of properties that can varie according to the substance that is used.
Benefits:
The alloy its considerable lighter than the pure material, because the alluminum its a very ligthmetal.
It has a high resistance to corrosion because the alluminum can form Al2O3 that once formed its very hard to continue with the corrosion
Its a very unexpensive material
Disadvantages
The alloys has to be an equilibrium between the good and the bad, if an alloy has a very big amount of alluminum it will not have a very big mecanic resistence so it won't work as a replacement for structural steel.
On the other hand if it doesn't has an enough amount of alluminum won't have an enough covering of the coat that protects against the corrosion.