Reducing the sound level on ships and increasing comfort in cabins

Rostock (DE), Buers (AT). At the German Society for Maritime Technology (Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft or STG) forum in February 2019 in Rostock, Stefan Lukossek from Getzner Werkstoffe gave a presentation on how naval architects can use flame-retardant elastic components to reduce noise and vibrations on ships and thus improve comfort in the cabins.

The issue of sound control is more relevant than ever, as the importance of climate and environmental protection continues to rise and there is also an increasing urgency among politicians to protect the oceans from shipping noise immissions. This topic was the focus of the STG forum "Selected topics on strength, vibrations and noise" on 21 February 2019 at the University of Rostock. Specific emphasis was placed on the interaction of "design and strength" and "vibrations and noises". In his presentation Stefan Lukossek from Getzner explained the alternatives that special flame-retardant vibration-protection components in the floor construction open up for sound control.

Stringent requirements on comfort and safety

Architects and designers, and not least the owners of yachts and cruise ships, have extremely high expectations of comfort on board, yet stringent safety requirements such as fire protection must also be met. In 2018, Getzner launched its own flame-retardant polyurethane material for the highly effective vibration decoupling of ships flooring – Sylomer® Marine. This reduces the sound level on ships and improves comfort in cabins, plus it is IMO/SOLAS and wheelmark-certified. "The elastic bearings are maintenance-free and, depending on the floor system, make it possible to lower the weight of typical floor constructions considerably without reducing efficiency," explained Stefan Lukossek, Area Sales Manager Industry at Getzner. Compared to other materials, Sylomer® Marine has a very low static to dynamic stiffness ratio and is, therefore, much more acoustically effective. The measure creates a kind of box-in-box system, in which the inner hull is decoupled from the outer hull. "The resilient, vibration-isolating bearings reduce wear, noise and damage to the infrastructure to a minimum. Propulsion engines and wheelhouses can also be decoupled using Sylomer® Marine," added Stefan Lukossek during his presentation in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology's large lecture theatre in front of an audience of a good one hundred representatives from the worlds of education, research and economics, which was also followed by classification societies, authorities and students. "Getzner is the only polyurethane supplier in the world whose flooring systems for rolling stock and ships hold a fire certificate," highlighted Stefan Lukossek in conclusion.