A 24-ft ferro-cement planing boat has been designed, constructed, and evaluated. Laboratory tests indicate that the all-mesh, ungalvanized reinforcement used in the boat's ferro-cement composite is superior to the more commonly used mesh-and-rod variety. The more important strength and elastic properties of ferro-cement, from the point of view of boat design, are adequately, analytically predictable. The methods and criteria used in the design analysis of the boat are borne out by trials and evaluation.
Ferrocement is a composite material consisting of wire mesh or expanded metal, with or without reinforcing rods, in a matrix of cement mortar. This material has gained popularity as a boatbuilding material throughout the world because of its low cost, low maintenance, fire resistance, immunity to worm attack, ease of repair, and ease of fabrication. Because of ferrocement's low strength to weight ratio, however, application has been limited to low performance displacement craft over 30‐feet. The Materials Department has been able to increase the strength‐to‐weight ratio of ferrocement by a factor of 2 compared to the best commercial ferrocement. This improvement has lead to the construction of a high‐speed planing hull boat made of this laboratory developed ferrocement composition. The boat has performed well in testing and has revealed a much greater range of applications for ferrocement in the U. S. Navy. Parametric studies of ferrocement as a materials system reveal that even more significant increases in engineering properties can be anticipated with further research and development work. This would provide the Navy with an alternate material with high performance capability whose cost and quick‐response characteristics are superior to other competitive materials. This technology can also be easily exported to friendly Foreign Navies giving them the ability to develop their own military assets.
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