The challenge
Designing a building the concept of separate systems for the load-bearing structure and the building envelope as well as the technical installations has been the origin for an ongoing revolutionary development in the sense of "higher, faster and quicker". The concept of system separation has been derived from nature where skeleton, skin and organs constitute an organism - it has not yet been adapted for shipbuilding where the watertight hull serves simultaneously as load-bearing structure. Which benefits are combined with a paradigm shift in shipbuilding?
The invention
Trussed tube are successfully used for high-rise buildings combining an utmost of bending, shear and torsion stiffness with a maximum of flexibility for the interior design of the building. The trussed tube, when directly transferred to shipbuilding, sets the platform for the introduction of new construction methods. The hull, being liberated from a global load-bearing function, can be looked upon as an independent system. Built in two layers, it acts as encasing for the load-bearing structure. The intermediate space between those two layers can be filled with a multitude of floating bodies making a RES- Ship really unsinkable.
The advantages
- Provision of an unsinkable ship
- The ship itself being the lifeboat in case of accident
- Reduction of energy consumption by lightweight techniques
The applications
- Introduction of industrial building techniques in shipbuilding
- Revolutionary blueprint for shipbuilding