Titanium alloys

[RedQueen]

Dear All-

Hi.

I'm new here & a big (& perhaps irrational) fan of titanium - or at least the newer alloys for yachts.

See www.titan-boat.com for the 1997 40' S/Y Titan Lady.

Titanium grew up more in aerospace than the ocean (with the possible exception of submarines) but certainly not pleasure craft so far...

From my initial research getting the fabrication knowledge (and thus a huge reduction in costs) on a consulting basis from an aerospace outfit like www.hi-techwelding.com - which did the same for tennis racquets & bicycles - and applying to the boat world will be the way to go.

I'll be intersted in reducing my relative level of ignornace with your comments.

All the best,

[Pavel]

RedQueen, thanks for the link, I was looking for this one for ever... I wonder why they did bother to paint the boat?! Surely bare Ti look would stir more interest, my guess is that the amount of filling they have to use to smooth the hull is probably rather excessive.

Pavel

[RedQueen]

Painting - If I remember the conversation I had with an old Ti engineer, his opinion was that the corrosion was probably not toxic enough to prevent barnacles etc... so a bottom coating would probably be necessary.

As to the painting from the waterline up. It is aesthetics, to hide the filler to make a fair curve that so many yacht owners like. The performance is negligible in a cruiser.

My thought is to introduce a structural hexagonal mesh between the Ti skin and the scantlings. Over time the water pressure would produce a 'dimple' effect like a golf ball.

Don't need paint and I like it aesthetically better than without the hexagon.

[Pavel]

RedQueen, what plate thickness are you considering? How big honeycomb size? If honeycomb, then are you going to glue it? it would be a challenge to weld it to plating. Also, wonder if you managed to find something about the scantling of the japanese Ti-Boat, plate thickness etc... thanks

Pavel

[RedQueen]

Plate will be 'thinner' since I will have to start out with a tender-size boat on which I can make lots of mistakes.

I haven't considered glue / adhesive. I know Aston Martin uses the stuff on its Vanquish. Should I? I thought of honeycomb in terms of a filler between two plates a sort of 'double' hull for a larger boat.

The hexagon is really a single layer geodesic (ala Buckminster Fuller) exterior to the stanchions from which I can weld a sheet to form a hull and continue from the top of the freeboard with the geodesic superstructure.

The 'cladding' will be photo-voltaltaic cells laminated in glass or what
www.openenergycorp.com calls architectual PV glass.