Albina Co., Inc. is an industry leader in bending bulb flat material. Albina has been a supplier of bent bulb flat material for ship and barge building applications for the past 3 decades. With the ability to bend bulb stem in and bulb stem out, Albina can take care of any of your stiffener needs for your next barge or shipbuilding project. If you are unfamiliar with bulb flat material, it is a hot rolled product that looks like flat bar with one end having a “stem” sticking out.
Tata Steel referenced on their web site that bulb flat is far superior to other forms of steel (i.e. angle or flat bar) for stiffeners in both ship and barge building projects. Tata went on to indicated the following: “Cost savings begin from the moment you specify bulb flats for your project. These profiles have an excellent strength to weight ratio, a low paint area with no need for edge grinding prior to painting and require fewer lugs compared with alternative plate stiffeners. In-service costs are also reduced for the life of the vessel or structure. That’s because the rounded edges of bulb flats minimize paint degradation and their shape prevents the buildup of corrosive debris. They are also easy to access for inspection, cleaning and maintenance.” “The special shape of bulb flat profiles delivers an unrivalled strength-to-weight ratio, giving you the desired buckling resistance at a lower weight than is possible with flat bars or structural angles.” If you are working on a barge or ship building project and require stiffeners, call Albina, we are experts in bending bulb flat material.
