Development of a composite hatch cover

Two designs of a composite marine hatch cover were developed on the basis of the design of a steel one. One of the proposed designs features composite structure made by means of manual lay-up technology, and the other one is based on a truss composite structure which can be produced by rod winding process. Selection of the most rational materials and design parameters was carried out on the basis of finite element simulations and use of parametric optimization methods. Results reveal the possibility of weight reduction by means of using composites in the hatch cover, which is associated, however, with a comparatively high cost.