WO2012112032A1

WO2012112032A1 - The combination of a ship and a quay with a fender

Info

Publication number: WO2012112032A1
Application number: PCT/NL2012/050041
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cor VAN SCHAIK; Jos Kronemeijer
Original assignee: Van Hattum En Blankevoort Bv
Priority date: 2011-01-25
Filing date: 2012-01-25
Publication date: 2012-08-23
Also published as: NL2008173C2; EP2668340A1; NL2008173A

Abstract

A combination of a bulky seaworthy ship and a quay, said ship being moored at the quay and floating in a body of sea water, said quay having a structural, solid upright quay wall, with a thickness of at least 20 or 50 centimetres, extending above and below the water level of the body of water, said quay wall having a first face of a layer of concrete with a thickness of at least 15 millimetres and an opposite second face and being exposed to said body of water at the first face and facing the quay bearing structure at the opposite second face and having reinforced concrete comprising fender means against which the moored ship directly bears, wherein the space between the first and second face is completely filled with solid material and the upright quay wall withstands all mooring loads of the ship. Said fender means are provided by said first face which is made of fibre reinforced high performance concrete conforming to EN 206-1 having a characteristic compressive strength between 65 MPa and 250 MPa and containing homogeneously mixed-in steel wire fibres (compliant to EN 14889-1) in a dosage between 45 and 150 kg/m3.

Description

The combination of a ship and a quay with a fender.

The invention relates to a quay with a fender. A fender is used on a large scale for mooring ships, in order to prevent the quay (or the jetty) or the ship concerned from being damaged.

From AU-B-407,418 a fender system is known, comprising an absorbing body of an elastomer material, which is secured to a quay, and a metal front plate, which is parallel in the vertical plane to the plane of the quay or the jetty, and is provided at the other side of the absorbing body. This front plate comes into direct touch with a ship moving towards the quay, the front plate serving for distributing and transferring the loads exerted by the ship during berthing.

US4554882 (Vredestein) discloses to replace the above steel front plate by a reinforced concrete front plate, to obtain improved durability.

The object of the invention is to provide an alternative fender system, as according to the enclosed claims.

Thus the invention relates to the application of fibre reinforced concrete of specified minimum properties to the upright quay wall to provide its superficial layer or outer shell which the berthing ship directly touches, such that the quay wall itself, comprising this superficial layer, provides the absorbing body and thus no separate elements in addition to said quay wall, e.g. elastomeric absorbing body or front plate, are required.

In stead of concrete, an equivalent concrete like material could be used to make the novel outer shell.

Preferably use is made of a steel fibre reinforced high performance concrete (SFRHPC), preferably fully integrated as outer shell of the upright quay wall, however with a distinct purpose, and part of the functional design of a quay, in which the upright quay wall itself, and also the complete quay structure, is designed to withstand mechanical forces implied to the main structure by moored or mooring ships.

The intended distinct purpose of the SFRHPC or different fibre reinforced high performance concrete is improved impact resistance, shear resistance and abrasion resistance as well as improved energy dissipation and crack-width suppression. Compare this with the traditional upright quay wall of traditional reinforced concrete (which reinforcement is made of a square network of continuous lengthwise and crosswise steel reinforcement bars), the outer shell of which is provided by the non-reinforced cover zone of the reinforced concrete, suffering from cracking and spalling of the surface caused by moored or mooring ships, if not protected by additional separate fender elements.

Preferably one or more of the following applies: shell or face or plate thickness at least 15 or 25 and possibly not more than 250 millimetre; the shell is either cast in-situ or as precast/prefabricated member; thickness excluding the dimensions of protruding anchoring devices intended for embedment in the adjacent main structure of the quay; concrete characteristic compressive strength at least 65 or 90 MPa (megapascal; C55/65 strength grade (formerly B65) or B90, respectively), such as 105 MPa (C90/105, formerly B105), possibly not more than 250 MPa (C215/250, formerly B250); high performance concrete compliant in design, proportions and constituents to and compatible with concrete conforming to EN 206-1; containing homogenously mixed-in steel wire fibres (compliant to EN 14889-1), preferably in a dosage of at least 30 or 45 and possibly not more than 150 kg/cubic metre; for at least 90% of the fibres: length at least 5 millimetre, e.g. not more than 60 or 100 millimetre and/or diameter not more than 1 or 2 millimetre; upright quay wall bearing the shell at least 60 or 75 centimetre solid thickness and/or made of regular concrete, e.g. between 25 and 55 and below 65 MPa compressive strength (C20/25, C45/55 andC55/65, respectively, strength grade, formerly B25, B55 and B65, respectively) with static square reinforcement of continuous crosswise and lengthwise rods; upright quay wall bearing the outer shell cast and cured in situ; prefabricated outer shell located in mould or providing a mould wall and upright quay wall material cast against it; outer shell has projections, e.g. embedded prefabricated brackets of e.g. metal/steel, penetrating the upright quay wall; outer shell and upright quay wall have a force transferring interface covering substantially the complete surface of the face of the outer shell facing said upright quay wall; outer shell provides the surface of the upright quay wall against which the ship collides and/or is integral part of said quay wall and/or provides the exposed top layer of said quay wall; outer shell backed by upright wall substrate .

A ship being moored will in most cases have a speed at a right angle to the plane of the quay or jetty, as well as parallel thereto. In order to reduce the friction between the fender system and ship, gliding means, e.g. strips or sheets can be provided on the front plate. Thus the ship coming in contact with the fender system will contact and slide against the gliding strips which form at least part of the exterior surface of the front plate of the fender system. These gliding strips will be made in general of such materials having a low friction coefficient, e.g. metal. However, the impact forces are borne by the cast and cured substrate material of the front plate .

The shape in which the front plate is cast can be adapted easily to the most desired shape of the front plate. So the front plate can be square or rectangular and also have other shapes, such as e.g. trapezoid or round.

It may be observed, that it has already been proposed to make the front plate of a fender entirely of synthetic material. Because of the material costs, the use of a solid plate of synthetic material can be considered only for relatively small fenders. For larger fenders a more composite form of the front plate will have to be used, but the manufacture of the mould necessary therefore is very expensive and therefore only usable for sufficiently large series, whereas the material costs will still be considerable.

Concrete, to the contrary, constitutes an inexpensive material and also a mould for casting concrete is inexpensive to manufacture.

Preferably, between the upright quay wall and the front plate an absorbing body is absent. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be explained further by means of examples of embodiments, which do not restrict the invention, shown in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a quay with the fender system according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows the cross section of the quay of fig. 1 according to line II-II;

Fig. 3 shows detail A of fig. 2 ;

Fig. 4 shows the cross section of the mooring means 14 in fig. 1 according to a sectional line parallel to line II-II;

Fig. 5 shows part of detail A of fig. 2 more in detail;

Fig. 6 shows detail 3 of fig 1 in cross section according to line I-I;

Fig. 7 shows detail 2 of fig. 1 in cross section according to line I-I; and

Fig. 8 shows detail 1 of fig. 1 in cross section according to line I-I .

These drawings are to scale and the indicated measure are in millimetre.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The quay shown is of construction typical for mooring seaworthy, commercial freight and passenger ships with at least one thousand or ten thousand ton water displacement and a length of at least fifty or one hundred metres. The quay has a foundation of e.g. rock or sand. Fig. 1 shows in front view different mooring means 4, 14 with which the quay is provided.

The cross sectional views of fig. 2-8 show the vertical and horizontal walls 9 made of traditional low cost construction concrete with reinforcement net several centimetres below the surface (typical required coverage to avoid corrosion of the steel bars of the reinforcement), e.g. compressive strength below 35 or 45 MPa (B35 or B45), thickness approximately 670 millimetre and enclosing a hollow space 12 to save material.

The vertical wall in fig. 2 most to the left is with its to the left in the drawing facing first face 11 directly exposed to the harbour water into which the ship floats. This wall extends from above to below the water level. Said water level is indicated 5. This face 11 and its backing 9 are extended downwards by extension 13.

This first face 11 is provided by a prefabricated outer shell made of fibre reinforced high performance concrete conforming to EN 206-1 having a characteristic compressive strength between 65 MPa and 250 MPa and containing homogeneously mixed-in steel wire fibres (compliant to EN 14889-1) in a dosage between 45 and 150 kg/m3. Thus the steel fibre contents is constant through the thickness of the outer shell. This shell has a thickness of 80 millimetre and is embedded in and backed by the concrete substrate of said upright wall.

The prefabricated outer shell is cast in a mould in the factory and after sufficient curing it is removed from the mould and transported to the site of the quay.

The sufficiently cured outer shell 11 provides one of the walls of the in situ casting mould at the site of the quay which is subsequently filled with the conventional uncured concrete to cast the quay in situ.

Fig. 4 shows the mooring means 14 provided in a recess of the wall 9. At the location of this recess the outer shell 11 is absent .

Fig. 5 shows that the prefabricated outer shell 11 contains

(in addition to the steel fibres) a traditional reinforcement net of vertical and horizontal steel bars 6 providing a net with square mesh and located 40 millimetre below the surface for sufficient coverage according to the typical requirements. This reinforcement of steel bars is associated with horizontal steel bars 16 extending in the outer shell 11 and the substrate concrete 9, functioning as contact reinforcement for improved embedment of the outer shell 11 into the concrete substrate 9.

All figures showing a cross section or detail, show the outer shell 11 and its concrete backing 9.

Thus the outer shell 11 and its concrete backing 9 have a force transferring interface covering substantially the complete surface of the face of the outer shell facing said backing. Further, the outer shell provides the surface of the quay against which the ship collides. And it is integral part of said quay and provides the exposed top layer of said quay.

The tough outer shell provides wear and impact resistance and spreads the localised load, as is typical with a mooring ship, before the load is transferred to the substrate concrete which latter thus suffers from lower peak loads and thus is able to withstand the forces from a mooring ship without damage. Because of its strength, the outer shell also withstands the mooring forces without damage.

In stead of embedding or inmoulding the prefabricated outer shell, it could be mounted differently, e.g. bolted to the concrete backing. In stead of prefabricated, the outer shell could be cast and cured in situ.

The face of the outer shell exposed to the ship could be provided by wear resistant elements, such as fig. 6-8 show. Such elements 7, in this embodiment vertically extending strips, could even cover substantially the complete surface of the outer shell 11. Such elements are merely for wear protection and not for protecting the outer shell against the much larger impact forces of a mooring ship. Such wear resistant elements could be spaced from the outer shell. Fig. 6 shows a single wide strip 7, fig. 7 shows narrow strips 7 and in between a vertical recess containing a ladder 8 to climb upward the quay, and fig. 8 shows a single narrow strip 7. The strips 7 are partly embedded into the outer shell 11, thus the strips 7 are backed by material of the outer shell 11 and are provided in a recess in the outer shell 11 and project from the outer face of the outer shell 11.

EXAMPLES OF THE CONCRETE MATERIAL

The cast, concrete like material used is preferably high performance concrete preferably steel fibre reinforced, ultra high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) being an example of it. For more details about such concrete, refer eg. to the article "The use of UHPFRC (Ductal®) for bridges in North America: The technology, applications and challenges facing commercialization" by Vic H. Perry and Peter J. Seibert

(http: / /www. ductal-lafarge . com/SLib/17-UHPC%20Paper%20-%20F INAL.pdf) . US5503670 and US5522926 (Lafarge SA/Bouygues

Traveaux Publics) also provide more details. The contents of the three documents cited in this paragraph are integrally enclosed in here by reference.

For the SFRHPC one or more of the following applies: "Metal fibre concrete" means a body of cementitious matrix including metal fibres and obtained by setting of a cementitious composition mixed with water; made up of the following three phases: cement which constitutes the binding phase and has a grain size lying in the range e.g. 1 micrometer to 100 micrometers; sand which has a grain size lying in the range e.g. 1 mm to 4 mm; and coarse aggregate having a size lying in the range e.g. 5 mm to 20 mm, or 5 mm to 25 mm; includes steel fibres of length lying in the range e.g. 30 mm to 60 mm (the maximum length of fibre that can be used is limited firstly by the need to be able to perform mixing without excessive damage, and secondly by the casting requirements for the concrete (putting into place and vibration) ; smooth metal fibres held in place in the concrete by adhesion; to ensure that a smooth fibre behaves well, it is important that the form factor, that is the length of the fibre divided by its diameter, lies in the range 50 to 100 (this optimum form factor may be smaller if fibre anchoring is improved by a change in fibre shape: corrugations, end hooks, undulation, etc.); a concentration of fibres in metal fibre concrete lies in the range 30 kg/m3 to 150 kg/m3 (generally in the range 40 kg/m3 to 80 kg/m3, which corresponds to a volume percentage lying in the range 0.5% to 1%) ; fibre length L generally lies in the range 30 mm to 60 mm, whereas the diameter D of the coarsest aggregates generally lies in the range 20 mm to 25 mm, such that the ratio R=L/D lies in the range 1.2 to 3.0); the cured concrete has traction strength (flexural strength) lying at least in the range 30 MPa to 60 MPa; fracture energy lying at least in the range 10, 000 J/m2 to 40,000 J/m@2; ultimate flexural strain, at least in the range 4000.10@-6 m/m to 9000.10@-6 m/m; compressive strength lying at least in the range 150 MPa to 250 MPa; strength intensity factor at least in the range of 6 MPa m@0.5 to 13 MPa m@0.5; is essentially constituted by a Portland cement, granular elements, fine elements that react in the manner of pozzolan, metal fibres, dispersing agent, optionally other additives, and water; the preponderant granular elements have a maximum grain size D of not more than 800 micrometers; wherein the preponderant metal fibres have individual lengths 1 lying in the range 4 mm to 20 mm; the ratio R of the mean length L of the fibres divided by said maximum size D of the granular elements is not less than 10; the amount of the preponderant metal fibres is such that the volume of said preponderant metal fibres lies in the range 1.0% to 4.0% of the volume of the concrete after setting; for 100 p/w of cement, the composition contains at least 60 p/w of said sand grains and at least 10 p/w of said metal fibres; per 100 p/w of said Portland cement, 80 to 130 p/w of said sand grains having a mean grain size of 150 to 400 micrometers, 20 to 30 p/w of amorphous silica as said component having a pozzolan reaction with cement having a mean grain size of less than 0.5 micrometer, 15 to 40 p/w of said metal fibres having a mean length lying in the range 10 to 14 mm, and 12 to 20 p/w of water; said sand grains comprise crushed quartz powder; the volume of said metal fibres is 2% to 3% of the volume of the concrete after setting; said maximum grain size D is not more than 600 micrometers or not more than 400 micrometers; said individual lengths lie in the range of 8 mm to 16 mm or in the range of 10 mm to 14 mm; the metal fibres have a diameter lying in the range of 80 micrometers to 500 micrometers; the metal fibres have a mean diameter lying in the range of 100 micrometers to 200 micrometers; the maximum grain size of the sand grains is not greater than 500 micrometers, and/or the metal fibres have a length between 10 mm and 20 mm; said ratio R is not less than 20; a dry extract of the dispersing agent is at least 0.5 percent by weight of said cement; the weight percentage of the dispersing agent with to the cement is about 1.8; the Portland cement selected from the group consisting of a Portland cement type V, a Portland cement type III and a high silica modulus Portland cement; the metal fibres are selected from the group consisting of stainless steel fibres, steel fibres, non ferrous metal or metal alloy coated stainless steel fibres, and non ferrous metal or metal alloy coated steel fibres; said components having a pozzolanic reaction with cement have a mean granular size of less than 0.5 micrometers; said components having a pozzolanic reaction with cement comprise elements selected from the group consisting of silica, fly ash and blast furnace slag; said silica is silica fume; the weight percentage of water to cement is 10 to 30 or 12 to 20; including per 100 parts by weight of Portland cement, 60 to 150 parts by weight of said sand grains having a mean grain size of 150 to 400 micrometers, 10 to 40 parts by weight of amorphous silica as said component having a pozzolanic reaction having a mean grain size of less than 0.5 micrometer, 10 to 80 parts by weight of the metal fibres having a mean length lying in the range 4 to 20 mm, at least 0.5 parts by weight of a dry extract of the dispersing agent, and 10 to 30 parts by weight of water; comprising a superplasticizer as the dispersing agent.

Such composition when the components are thoroughly mixed produces after setting a solid body of metal fibre concrete.

The term "preponderant granular elements" is used to designate granular elements that represent at least 90%, preferably at least 95%, or better still at least 98% of the total mass of the granular elements.

The term "preponderant metal fibres" is used to designate metal fibres representing not less than 90%, preferably not less than 95%, and better still not less than 98% of the total mass of metal fibres.

Ideally, the preponderant granular elements constitute all of the granular elements and the preponderant metal fibres constitute all of the metal fibres.

In particularly advantageous embodiments one or more of the following applies: D is not more than 600 micrometers, or better not more than 400 micrometers (where sizes of 800, 600, and 400 micrometers approximatively correspond respectively to equivalent screen sizes of 30, 29, and 27 in the AFNOR NF X 11-501 series) ; 1 lies in the range 8 mm to 16 mm, or better in the range 10 mm to 14 mm; and the diameter of the preponderant metal fibres lies in the range 80 micrometers to 500 micrometers, or better in the range 100 micrometers to 200 micrometers; the volume percentage of the preponderant metal fibres lies in the range 2.0%-3.0%, preferably about 2.5%, of the volume of the concrete after setting; the said granular elements

substantially are fine sands, preferably of the group

constituted by sift natural sand, crushed sand or other fine sands; the Portland cement is a cement of the group constituted by Portland cement type V or type III and more preferably high silica modulus cement; the metal fibres are fibres of the group constituted by steel fibres, stainless steel fibres and steel or stainless steel fibres coated with a non ferrous metal such as copper, zinc and other non ferrous metal; or metal alloy; the said fine elements having a pozzolan reaction are elements of the group constituted by silica, fly ashes and blast furnace slags having a mean granular size of less than 0.5 micrometers; the dispersing agent is a superplasticizer of the group constituted by naphtalene, melamine, polyacrylate and other superplasticizers .

In a typical example, the aggregate in the mixture for making concrete has a diameter of not more than 400 micrometers and the metal fibres are more than 12 mm long, thereby obtaining a ratio R=30.

In a preferred embodiment, the composition comprises per 100 parts by weight of cement: 60 to 150 (or better 80 to 130) parts by weight of fine sand having a mean grain size of 150 to 400 micrometers; 10 to 40 (or better 20 to 30) parts by weight of amorphous silica having a mean grain size of less than 0.5 micrometers; 10 to 80 (or better 15 to 40) parts by weight of metal fibres having a mean length lying in the range 10 mm to 14 mm, at least some (dry extract) of a dispersing agent, optional additives, and 10 to 30, preferably 10 to 24, and more preferably 12 to 20 parts by weight of water.

Preferably the silica is silica fume.

The concrete is not limited to the use of a particular dispersing agent, but preference is given to a superplasticizer of the polyacrylate type over superplasticizers of the melamine or of the naphthalene types. It is preferable to use at least 0.5, or better at least 1.2, or still more preferably about 1.8 parts by weight of superplasticizer (dry extract) for 100 parts by weight of cement.

The concrete of the invention may be prepared by mixing the solid ingredients and water in conventional manner.

The resulting concrete is preferably subjected to curing at a temperature lying between ambient and 100 DEG C, in particular curing in the range 60 DEG C. to 100 DEG C., and preferably at a temperature of about 90 DEG C.

In various embodiments, the silica may be partially or totally substituted by other pozzolanic materials such as fly ashes, blast furnace slags, for example.

The concrete front plate preferably contains passive reinforcement at 1 to 5 cm (at maximum 10 cm) from the surface of the front plate (e.g. continuous steel bars running in two perpendicular directions providing a net covering the complete area of the front plate) . Typical concrete composition:

I Portland cement - Type V 955 kg/m@3; Fine quartz sand (150-300 micrometers) 1051 kg/m@3; Silica (e.g. undensified silica fume (18 m@2 /g) 239 kg/m@3; Superplasticizer

(polyacrylate) 13 kg/m@3; Calibrated Steel fibres (straight and smooth) 191 kg/m@3 (L = 12.5 mm, o = 0.18 mm); total water 153 l/m@3

II High silica modulus Portland Cement 920 kg/m@3; Silica Fume 212 kg/m@3; Crushed Quartz Powder 359 kg/m@3 (mean size 10 micrometers) ; Sand (max. 0.5 mm) 662 kg/m@3; Calibrated steel fibres 184 kg/m@3 (L = 12.7 mm, o = 0.180 mm); Polyacrylate superplasticizer (dry exact) 17 kg/m@3; Water 175 kg/m@3.

III (parts in weight) Portland Cement Type III 1; Microsilica from zirconium industry 0.25; Sand (diameter in the range 0.15 mm-0.5 mm) 1.03; Calibrated steel fibres 0.2 (L = 12.7 mm, o: 0.15 mm) ; Superplasticizer melamine (dry extract) 0.014; Water 0.19.

In stead of a quay or jetty, the invention could also be applied as an outer shell at another object provided in a body of water in which the ship floats and against which the ship could collide, e.g. a from the water bed to above the water level rising column supporting a car traffic bridge deck.

Final statement

It will be obvious that only a few possible embodiments of the invention have been described and shown in the drawing, and that numerous modifications can be made without leaving the scope of the invention as will be obvious to the expert.

Claims

1. A combination of a preferably seaworthy ship of at least one thousand or ten thousand ton water displacement and a stationary object, such as a quay or jetty, said ship being moored at the quay and floating in a body of fresh or sea water, said quay having a structural, solid upright quay wall, with a thickness of at least 20 or 50 centimetres, extending above and below the water level of the body of water, said quay wall having a first face of a layer of concrete with a thickness of at least 15 millimetres and an opposite second face and being exposed to said body of water at the first face and facing the quay bearing structure at the opposite second face and having reinforced concrete comprising fender means against which the moored ship directly bears, wherein the space between the first and second face is preferably completely filled with solid material and the upright quay wall preferably withstands all mooring loads of the ship, characterised in that said fender means are provided by said first face which is made of fibre reinforced high performance concrete conforming to EN 206-1 having a characteristic compressive strength between 65 MPa and 250 MPa and containing homogeneously mixed-in steel wire fibres (compliant to EN 14889-1) in a dosage preferably between 45 and 150 kg/m3.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said first face is provided by a prefabricated cured sheet embedded in said quay wall, and preferably which sheet has been located at its final operating position spaced from the second face, after which the quay wall material has been cast to fill the space between de first and second face to produce the completed quay wall in situ.

3. The combination according to claim 1 or 2, for first face the use is made of a steel fibre reinforced high performance concrete (SFRHPC), preferably fully integrated as outer shell of the upright quay wall, however with a distinct purpose, and part of the functional design of a quay, in which the upright quay wall itself, and also the complete quay structure, is designed to withstand mechanical forces implied to the main structure by moored or mooring ships.

4. The combination according to any of claims 1-3, between the upright quay wall and the first face an absorbing body is absent .

5. The combination according to any of claims 1-4, the upright quay wall bearing the first face is made of regular concrete below 65 MPa compressive strength with static square

reinforcement of continuous crosswise and lengthwise rods

6. The combination according to any of claims 1-5, the first face (11) contains, in addition to the steel fibres, a reinforcement net of mutually crossing steel bars (6) preferably providing a net with square mesh and located e.g. 40 millimetre below the surface for sufficient coverage according to the typical requirements, which reinforcement of steel bars is preferably associated with e.g. horizontal steel bars (16) extending in the first face (11) and the substrate concrete (9) , functioning as contact reinforcement for improved embedment of the first face (11) into the concrete substrate (9) .

7. A quay or jetty for the combination of any of claims 1-6.