Steel truss/composite skin hybrid ship hull, Part II: Manufacturing and sagging testing

A six meter subscale steel truss/composite skin hybrid ship hull model was developed based on an optimized design of a full scale model. The subscale model was finite element analyzed, manufactured and tested under sagging loads. It was made of a welded stainless steel truss to which 60 composite sandwich panels were bonded. The model was loaded to 36% above the design load, at which point there was substantial yielding and residual deformation of the steel truss. However, there was no indication of damage in any of the composite sandwich panels, nor in the bonds between the panels and the steel truss.