Ships and marine applications

Boat shafts

Whether for ocean shipping or motorboats. Boat shafts are the most sophisticated and functional components in the industry. The demand for high-quality, peeled, polished or precision-ground bar steels is particularly high in the construction of passenger ships, yachts and tugs. The drive systems are exposed to high loads. Both ship shafts and bearings are subject to friction and high torque. Our business units Deutsche Edelstahlwerke and Ugitech offer the right solutions for marine applications.

Important properties of steel for boat shafts

  • high corrosion resistance
  • excellent combination of toughness and strength
  • excellent straightness
  • best surface quality

Ultra-fine wire for filter systems

What ballast water from seagoing ships has to do with steel and the protection of marine ecosystems? Ships are not always fully loaded. More goods are transported from Asia to Europe than vice versa and for the return journey with numerous empty containers, a container ship, for example, has to take up ballast water for better stability. However, there are many organisms in seawater: bacteria, algae, small fish, jellyfish. International regulations require the filtration of ballast water so that no alien species are introduced from one sea area to another and endanger its ecological balance. Pre-filtration of this seawater is carried out with the aid of mesh fabric made of fine and corrosion-resistant steel wire. Such filter meshes are manufactured from the fine wire of our Ugitech business unit and its subsidiary Sprintmetal. The fine wire used in this example has the diameter of a human hair and smaller!

Up to 4x thinner than human hair

The finest wire from Sprintmetal has a diameter of only 0.013 mm, the average for human hair is 0.05 - 0.08 mm.