Basic studies on the production technology for application of large extrusion profiles of aluminum A6005A alloy to ship structures

Aluminum is the preferred metal fabric for high speed vessels due to its light weight and high strength. Among various aluminum alloys, A6005A alloy has enough strength and good extrudibility, so large hollow extrusion profiles of A6005A alloy may be applied to high speed vessels for cost effective design. In this paper, for application of large extrusion profiles of aluminum A6005A alloy to ship structures, production technology required in constructing the ship structure is studied, and the usefulness of the material is described. A structural design process, welding and a production method for hollow extrusion profiles of A6005A alloy have been proposed. To investigate fatigue strength of the weld joint with latent defects, tensile and bending fatigue tests have been performed. Possible painting schedules for the surface of the extrusion profiles have also been proposed and the quality of the painted surface has been proven by test. From this study it can be concluded that the large aluminum extrusion profile of A6005A alloy is a useful structural material for high speed vessels.