How are the steel panels of a ships hull shaped?

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How do they make the individual panels on a ships hull to the correct shape so they can be welded together? It wouldn’t be practical to make a press tool for every panel for a design of ship that you might only build a handful of, and you can’t build a (good) ship entirely out of flat plate, so how do they do it?

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2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Here’s a good little rundown: https://www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/article/shopmanagement/a-parting-of-the-inclined-ways

> Only the outer hull details are shaped to contour; inner hull details are designed to allow fabrication from flat plate. Power rolling shapes the outer hull components that require simple curvature, with contour checked against CAD-generated templates. Parts that need compound curvature are formed by selective heating. The latter method requires the skill and experience of craftsmen who now can refer to a CAD-generated graphic matrix, which predicts specific locations and amounts of heat to be applied.

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