A Study on Structural Strength Assessment of Polyethylene Boat

Boat or yacht hull has been built mainly by FRP composite materials. FRP boat hull manufacturing begins to be restricted after the year 2000 under international regulation on ocean environment safety. The alternative of FRP has been proposed by many boat builders and high strength aluminium is considered as its standard material. But high strength aluminium is very expensive as boat hull material. In this study, boat hull is considered to be built by high density polyethylene and its structural strength is estimated by longitudinal strength test method on small craft. Tensile strength of polyethylene boat hull material is higher than that of FRP boat hull material. But safety factor of polyethylene boat hull is more than that of FRP boat hull. These study results indicate structural integrity and quality control of polyethylene boat is better than those of FRP boat.