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Bulkhead (partition)
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Compartmentalisation of a ship, to reduce floodability
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds
of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
3 Purpose
4 Requirements of bulkheads
4.1 Fire-resistance
4.2 Prevention of damage from EMI and EMP
5 Automotive
6 Other uses of the term
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Etymology
The word bulki meant "cargo" in Old Norse. During the 15th century sailors and builders in Europe
realized that walls within a vessel would prevent cargo from shifting during passage. In shipbuilding, any
vertical panel was called a head. So walls installed abeam (side-to-side) in a vessel's hull were called
"bulkheads".[dubious – discuss] Now, the term bulkhead applies to every vertical panel aboard a ship,
except for the hull itself.
History
See also: Naval history of China

The remains of the Quanzhou ship, dated to the Song Dynasty and discovered in 1973
Bulkhead partitions are considered to have been a feature of Chinese junks, a type of ship. Song Dynasty
author Zhu Yu (fl. 12th century) wrote in his book of 1119 that the hulls of Chinese ships had a bulkhead
build. The 5th-century book Garden of Strange Things by Liu Jingshu mentioned that a ship could allow
water to enter the bottom without sinking. Archaeological evidence of bulkhead partitions has been
found on a 24 m (78 ft) long Song Dynasty ship dredged from the waters off the southern coast of China
in 1973, the hull of the ship divided into twelve walled compartmental sections built watertight, dated
to about 1277.[1][2]
Texts written by writers such as Marco Polo (1254–1324), Ibn Battuta (1304–1369), Niccolò Da Conti
(1395–1469), and Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) describe the bulkhead partitions of East Asian
shipbuilding.[1][3] An account of the early fifteenth century describes Indian ships as being built in
compartments so that even if one part was damaged, the rest remained intact — a forerunner of the
modern day watertight compartments using bulkheads.[4]
Bulkhead partitions became widespread in Western shipbuilding during the early 19th century.[1]
Benjamin Franklin wrote in a 1787 letter that "as these vessels are not to be laden with goods, their
holds may without inconvenience be divided into separate apartments, after the Chinese manner, and
each of these apartments caulked tight so as to keep out water."[5] A 19th century book on shipbuilding
attributes the introduction of watertight bulkheads to Charles Wye Williams, known for his steamships.
[6]
Purpose
Bulkheads in a ship serve several purposes:
increase the structural rigidity of the vessel,
divide functional areas into rooms and
create watertight compartments that can contain water in the case of a hull breach or other leak.
some bulkheads and decks are fire-resistance rated to achieve compartmentalisation, a passive fire
protection measure; see firewall (construction).
On an aircraft, bulkheads divide the cabin into multiple areas.[dubious – discuss] On passenger aircraft a
common application is for physically dividing cabins used for different classes of service (e.g. economy
and business.) On combination cargo/ passenger, or "combi" aircraft, bulkhead walls are inserted to
divide areas intended for passenger seating and cargo storage.
Requirements of bulkheads
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Fire-resistance
Firestopped electrical cable penetration in a bulkhead which is required to have a fire-resistance rating.
The firestop is made of a purpose-designed putty on the outside and a proprietary cementitious fill on
the inside.
Openings in fire-resistance rated bulkheads and decks must be firestopped to restore the fire-resistance
ratings that would otherwise be compromised, if the openings were left unsealed. The authority having
jurisdiction for such measures varies depending upon the flag of the ship. Merchant vessels are typically
subject to the regulations and inspections of the Coast Guards of the flag country. Combat ships are
subject to the regulations set out by the navy of the country that owns the ship.
Prevention of damage from EMI and EMP
Bulkheads and decks of warships may be fully grounded (electrically) as a countermeasure against
damage from EMI and EMP due to nuclear or electromagnetic bomb detonations near the ship, which
could severely damage the vital electronic systems on a ship.
In the case of firestops, cable jacketing is usually removed within the seal and firestop rubber modules
are internally fitted with copper shields, which contact the cables' armour in order to ground the seal.
Automotive
Most passenger vehicles and some freight vehicles will have a bulkhead which separates the engine
compartment from the passenger compartment or cab;[7] the automotive use is analogous to the
nautical term in that the bulkhead is an internal wall which separates different parts of the vehicle.
Some passenger vehicles (particularly sedan/saloon-type vehicles) will also have a rear bulkhead, which
separates the passenger compartment from the trunk/boot.
Other uses of the term

The term was later applied to other vehicles, such as railroad cars, hopper cars, trams, automobiles,
aircraft or spacecraft, as well as to containers, intermediate bulk containers and fuel tanks. In some of
these cases bulkheads are airtight to prevent air leakage or the spread of a fire. The term may also be
used for the "end walls" of bulkhead flatcars.
Mechanically, a partition or panel through which connectors pass, or a connector designed to pass
through a partition.
In architecture the term is frequently used to denote any boxed in beam or other downstand from a
ceiling and by extension even the vertical downstand face of an area of lower ceiling beyond. This usage
presumably derives from experience on boats where to maintain the structural function personnel
openings through bulkheads always retain a portion of the bulkhead crossing the head of the opening.
Head strikes on these downstand elements are commonplace, hence in architecture any overhead
downstand element comes to be referred to as a bulkhead.
The term is also used to refer to large retroactively installed pressure barriers for temporary or
permanent use, often during maintenance or construction activities.[8]
See also
Compartmentalization (fire protection)
Fire protection
Fireproofing
Intumescent
Rear pressure bulkhead
Structural steel
References
Needham, Joseph. (1971). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology,
Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics. Cambridge University Press., reprinted Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
(1986), pp. 391, 420–422, 462-463.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, James B. Palais (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political
History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-13384-4, p. 159.
Gernet, Jacques. (1996). A History of Chinese Civilization. Translated by J.R. Foster and Charles Hartman.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-49781-7, p. 327.
Early History (Indian Navy), National Informatics Center, Government of India.

Benjamin Franklin (1906). The writings of Benjamin Franklin. The Macmillan Company. pp. 148–149.
Retrieved 5 October 2012.
Sir Edward James Reed (1869). Shipbuilding in iron and steel: A practical treatise, giving full details of
construction, processes of manufacture, and building arrangements. Murray. p. 213. Retrieved 5
October 2012.
"Bulkhead definition | The Free Automotive Dictionary".
"Bulkheads and Large Isolation Barriers". Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bulkheads.
Britannica definition
Merriam-Webster definition
WIPO Bulkhead for motor vehicle
Canadian Armed Forces Glossary, see Fire Zone, page 5 of 14
Det Norske Veritas Type Approval for a fire damper inside and A60 bulkhead Archived 2016-04-07 at the
Wayback Machine
Subject-related patent by Free Patents Online
An example treatise on the use of A60 bulkheads onboard tankers.

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Bulkhead (partition)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Compartmentalisation of a ship, to reduce floodability

4.2 Prevention of damage from EMI and EMP

6 Other uses of the term

See also: Naval history of China

Bulkheads in a ship serve several purposes:

increase the structural rigidity of the vessel,

divide functional areas into rooms and

Prevention of damage from EMI and EMP

Other uses of the term

Compartmentalization (fire protection)

Rear pressure bulkhead

Early History (Indian Navy), National Informatics Center, Government of India.

"Bulkhead definition | The Free Automotive Dictionary".

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bulkheads.

WIPO Bulkhead for motor vehicle

Canadian Armed Forces Glossary, see Fire Zone, page 5 of 14

Subject-related patent by Free Patents Online

An example treatise on the use of A60 bulkheads onboard tankers.

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