Guidance

Applied Marine Engineering Written Examination Syllabus

Published 20 August 2014

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1. Materials technology

  1. Iron and steel:
    1. Types of iron and steel (cast iron, wrought iron, mild steel, cast steel, alloyed steels);
    2. Definition of an alloy and alloying elements;
    3. Effects of alloying elements in steels;
    4. Stainless steels (Ferritic, Martensitic, Austenitic; Grade 304 and Marine Grade 316).
  2. Aluminium including Marine Grades.
  3. Non-ferrous metals and alloys (zinc, copper, brasses, bronzes).
  4. Fibre reinforced plastics (FRP: Fibre glass and Carbon Fibres).

2. Heat treatment

  1. Heat treatment of steels (Basic understanding of normalising; annealing; stress relieving; hardening; and tempering).
  2. Work hardening and annealing of aluminium.

3. Knowledge of testing materials

  1. Properties of materials (brittleness; ductility; elasticity; hardness; malleability; plasticity; toughness).
  2. Stress and strain.
  3. Forms of stress (tensile; compressive; shear).
  4. Load, deformation, relationship between load and deformation.
  5. Destructive and non-destructive testing for defects/ records:
    1. Surface defects and NDT methods (visual inspection, dye penetrant test, magnetic fluid test);
    2. Under-surface defects and non-destructive testing (NDT) methods (ringing, radiography, ultrasonic).
  6. Understand the terms: elastic limit; yield point; ultimate tensile strength (UTS); working stress and factor of safety.
  7. Modes of materials failure: (creep, fatigue, shear, torsion, tension, brinelling and fretting).

4. Knowledge of joining materials

  1. Basic welding and brazing methods (oxy-acetylene, mig/ mag/ tig).
  2. Basic welding defects.
  3. Joining and bonding of steel with aluminium (insulated bolted joints, explosive welding).

5. Corrosion

  1. Principles of metallic corrosion (oxidation, electro-chemical series, galvanic).
  2. Corrosion protection (sacrificial anodes, impressed current, protective coatings, surface preparation).

6. Fibre-Reinforced Plastic (FRP) and Glass-Reinforced Plastic (GRP)

  1. De-lamination, root whitening and osmosis in GRP.
  2. Repairs including by bonding.

7.  Instrumentation

  1. Temperature:
    1. Liquid in glass thermometers;
    2. Bi-metallic strip thermometers;
    3. Pyrometers;
    4. PT 100.
  2. Pressure:
    1. Bourdon tube gauge;
    2. U-tube manometer;
    3. Strain gauge.
  3. Level:
    1. Mechanical means (float/ potentiometer);
    2. Electronic means (capacitance).
  4. Flow:
    1. U-tube manometer with venturi;
    2. Turbine impeller;
    3. Electronic means.

8. Control Engineering

  1. Basic terminology associated with control systems: Desired value (DV); measured value (MV); error (error = DV - MV); feedback; negative feedback; positive feedback; sensors; comparator; actuators.
  2. Open loop and closed loop systems.
  3. Terminology applied to a main engine cooling system, such as main engine lubricating oil (LO) or main engine jacket water (HTCW).
  4. Data measuring and power transmission media and transducers (mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, fibre optic, discrete, analogue, digital) and converters.
  5. Types of actuator (bellows, diaphragm and piston operated devices, hydraulic, pneumatic and electrically operated devices).
  6. Types of positioner associated with actuators for feedback including Potentiometer and LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transducer).
  7. Basic theory of PID controllers (proportional, integral, derivative).
  8. One term, two term and three term controllers (P, P+I, P+I+D).
  9. Graphical representation of a control system disturbance, proportional (P) control, proportional and integral (PI) control, proportional, integral and derivative (PID) control.
  10. Digital control (bang-bang or proportional).
  11. Types of control system, methods of control and applications (terminology, open/closed loop, two-step, modulating).
  12. Examples of process control systems (single element, cascade, split range).
  13. Main engine speed/ load control.
  14. Controllable pitch propellers (CPP), propeller pitch/ speed control with constant speed engine.
  15. CPP, propeller pitch/speed control with variable speed engine.

9. Engineering drawing

  1. Interpret engineering and system drawings.
  2. Use engineering system drawings to identify possible locations for faults.
  3. Ability to produce a freehand sketch.
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