Proposed ASTM Standard to Cover Use of Doublers in Ship Repair

Many ship owners and operators repair ship structures with temporary steel patches known as doublers. The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy, as well as other maritime authorities, usually allow such patches until the ship’s next inspection period, which can be as long as three to five years from the date of repair. Despite this situation, there is not currently a standard for repairing steel hull ships with doublers.Subcommittee F25.01 on Structures is now working on a proposed new standard that will cover doublers: ASTM WK30649, Guide for Steel Ship Structure Repair Doubler Plate Design. The subcommittee is part of ASTM International Committee F25 on Ships and Marine Technology.

All interested parties, particularly ship owners and operators, are invited to participate in the development of ASTM WK30649. According to Chao H. Lin, naval architect, Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, and chairman of F25.01, the standard will be based on a research paper written by Pradeep Sensahrma, U.S. Coast Guard. Sensahrma will be helping F25.01 to convert the paper into ASTM WK30649.

ASTM International welcomes and encourages participation in the development of its standards. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org/JOIN.