Aluminum is a commonly used material for powerboats, especially military and commercial craft. It is also possibly the most common material for recreational boats under 18 feet or so and is well proven in this service, though the design and construction techniques of these small, light mass-produced craft is different in many respects to that of larger heavier welded craft.
The advent of computerized design and cutting has greatly reduced the cost of aluminum construction such that in certain applications aluminum construction is cost effective on a limited production or custom basis as well as for series production, and that is the reason why aluminum one-off boats are common in commercial service.
I have accumulated a range of more or less random information on the design and construction of these boats, mainly in the 20-65 foot range, for commercial and military use. None of this information is particularly novel, but it may be useful to other designers. I also have to confess to a substantial degree of self-plagiarization; much of this paper is gathered from other papers or articles covering specific topics that I wanted to bring together and correlate.
