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SHIP CONSTRUCTION FOR CLASS II/I

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3. BULKHEADS

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this chapter the officer will:
· Be able to explain the purposes of bulkheads
· Be able to describe the bulkheads which must be fitted to cargo ships.
· Be able to describe the construction of bulkheads fitted to ships.
· Be able to explain how watertightness is maintained when a watertight bulkhead
is pierced by a pipe, longitudinal or beam.
· Be able to describe how bulkheads are tested for tightness.
· Be able to explain the use of cross ties in tanker construction.

The Purpose of Bulkheads

Transverse bulkheads on a ship serve to subdivide the ship against flooding and the
spread of fire. The number of transverse bulkheads a ship will carry is dictated by
classification societies. Bulkheads also serve to support decks and superstructures.
Transverse bulkheads resist racking stress while longitudinal bulkheads resist
longitudinal stresses such as hogging and sagging. Longitudinal bulkheads also serve to
subdivide liquid cargoes and reduce free surface effect.

Definitions
Margin Line is a line at least 76 mm below the upper surface of the bulkhead deck at the
side of the ship and assumed for the purpose of determining the floodable length.

Bulkhead Deck is the uppermost deck to which watertight bulkheads are carried.

Weathertight for other than a door means that water will not penetrate and enter the hull
in the worst sea and weather conditions. In the case of a bulkhead door it means:

(a) Permanently attached, made of steel or equivalent material which together with its
frame is of equivalent strength to the unpierced bulkhead.
(b) Is closed by permanently attached gaskets and clamping devices.
(c) Is weather tight as for other fittings when closed.
(d) Can be operated from either side of the bulkhead and should normally open
outwards.

Watertight means capable of preventing the passage of water in any direction.

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Types of Bulkheads
There are basically three types of bulkheads to be found on a ship. They are:
· Watertight
· Non-watertight
· Oil tight (tank bulkhead)

Transverse watertight bulkheads subdivide the ship into a number of watertight

compartments.

Oil tight bulkheads form the boundaries of tank used for the carriage of liquid cargoes or
fuels.

Non-watertight bulkheads are another bulkheads such as engine casing, accommodation

partitions or store compartments.

Watertight Bulkheads
The number of watertight bulkheads a ship will carry is govern by Rules laid down by
classification societies. The number of bulkheads depends on the type of ship, the size of
the ship. According to the Construction Rules all ships must have:

1. A collision bulkhead, which is to be, positioned not less than 0.05 x the length
of the ship, nor more than 0.08 x the length of the ship from the forward end
of the lad waterline.

2. An after peak bulkhead which encloses the stern tube(s) and rudder trunk in a
watertight compartment.

3. A bulkhead at each end of the machinery space. The after bulkhead may be
the after peak bulkhead in a case where there is an after engine room.

4. Additional bulkheads are to be fitted depending on the length of the vessel.

The fitting of less than the required amount of bulkheads may be permitted but there must
be additional structural compensation and this arrangement must be approved by the
Administration.

Watertight bulkheads must extend to the freeboard deck but may rise up to the uppermost
continuous deck. The after peak bulkhead may extend only to the next deck above the
load water line, where the construction aft of this deck is fully watertight to the shell.

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The purpose of watertight subdivisions the spacing of the bulkhead is to provide an
arrangement such that if one compartment is flooded between bulkheads, the ship’s
waterline will not rise above the margin line. The margin line is a line drawn parallel to
and 76 mm below the upper surface of the bulkhead deck at the ship’s side. The
subdivision of passenger ships is regulated by statutory requirements which are in excess
of classification society rules for cargo ships, but the objects of confining flooding and
avoiding sinking are the same.

Non-watertight Bulkheads
Any bulkheads other than those used as main subdivisions and tank boundaries may be
non-watertight. Examples of these are engine room casing bulkheads, accommodation
partition, store room division etc. Wash bulkheads fitted in deep tanks or in the fore end
of a ship are also examples of non-watertight bulkheads. Where a non watertight
bulkhead performs the supporting function similar to a pillar, its stiffeners must be
adequate for the load carried.

Figure 3.1. A perforated bulkhead

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The Construction of Watertight Bulkheads

Watertight bulkheads usually consist of a very large area. Because of this they are made
up of several strakes of platings. The bulkheads are welded to the shell, deck and tank
top. The plating strakes are horizontal and the stiffening is vertical. Since water pressure
in a tank increases with depth and the watertight bulkhead must withstand such loading,
the bulkhead must have increasingly greater strength towards the base. This is achieved
by increasing the thickness of the horizontal strakes of plating towards the bottom. The
collision bulkhead must have plating some 12% thicker than other watertight bulkheads.
Also plating in the aft peak bulkhead around the stern tube must be doubled or increased
in thickness to reduce vibration. The bulkhead is stiffened by vertical bulb plates or toe-
welded angle bar stiffeners spaced about 760 mm apart. This spacing is reduced to 610
mm for collision and oil tight bulkheads. The ends of the stiffeners are bracketed to the
tank top and the deck beams. In tween decks, where the loading is less, the stiffeners may
have no end connections. A watertight bulkhead arrangement is shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2. A Forepeak Bulkhead

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 Figure 3.3. An After peak bulkhead

Corrugated Watertight Bulkheads

By making the bulkhead corrugated there is no need for the use of stiffeners. This results
in increased strength of the bulkhead and a reduction in weight. The corrugations on a
transverse bulkhead will be vertical while the corrugations on a longitudinal bulkhead
will be horizontal. This arrangement will make the transverse bulkhead more resistant to
transverse stresses and the longitudinal bulkheads more resistant to longitudinal stresses.

The plating must be of uniform thickness and adequate to support the greater loads at the
bottom of the bulkhead. There is a greater thickness of the plates but this is compensated
for by the reduction in weight by not having welded stiffeners on the bulkhead. The edge
of the corrugated bulkhead where it joins the shell plating may have stiffened flat plate
fitted to increase transverse strength and simplify fitting the bulkhead to the shell. On
high bulkheads with vertical corrugations, diaphragm plates are fitted across the troughs.
This prevents any possible collapse of the corrugations.

A watertight floor is fitted in the double bottom directly below every main transverse
bulkhead.

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 Figure 3.4. A corrugated bulkhead

Pipes, Beams or Longitudinals Passing Through a Watertight Bulkhead

Where a watertight bulkhead is penetrated e.g. by pipe work, the pipes are to be secured
by studs screwed through the plating or by welding so as to ensure watertight closure
around the penetration. Figure 3.5 shows how a pipe should be fitted to pass through a
bulkhead.

Figure 3.5. How pipes should pass through a watertight bulkhead.

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The same principle for a pipe passing through a watertight bulkhead will apply to a beam
or longitudinal passing through a watertight bulkhead.

Testing Bulkheads for Tightness

The fore peak and after peak bulkheads are tested for tightness by filling the tanks with
water to the load water line. Subdividing watertight bulkheads are tested by hosing down.
Oil tight and tank bulkheads must be tested by a head of water not less than 2.45 m and
above the highest point of the tank.

Cross Ties

Horizontal cross ties are introduced in the wing tanks to connect webs at the ship side and
the longitudinal bulkhead where these are longitudinally framed. The cross ties are
designed to stiffen the tank side boundary bulkhead structure against transverse distortion
under liquid pressure.

Two or three horizontal cross ties are provided depending on the vessels depth, but
diagonal crossties may be fitted and will be found on a number of ships. The crosstie is
often simply a face plate, vertically stiffened if very deep and horizontally stiffened to
prevent buckling and distortion in that direction. At its end the cross ties is racketed to the
vertical transverse webs.

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 Longitudinal

Upper Deck

Deck Girder

Stiffener

Main Bracket

Transverse Bulkhead

Stringer

Longitudinal Bulkhead

Main Bracket

Bottom Transverse

Bottom Girder

Figure 3.6. The cross section of an oil tanker.

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SHIP CONSTRUCTION FOR CLASS II/I
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Exercise 3

1. Describe briefly how bulkheads are tested for tightness.

2. Describe the construction of a watertight bulkhead aboard your last ship and its
attachments to sides, deck and tank top.

3. Explain the use of cross ties in the construction of a product tanker.

4. Describe the bulkheads which must be fitted to a cargo ship as laid down by the rules
of the classification societies.

5. Define the following:

(a) Weather tight

(b) Bulkhead deck
(c) Margin line.

6. Explain the purposes of bulkheads fitted to ships.

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