🔍 Key Concepts

• Location and function of the strake B in the side shell (how it fits into overall hull girder strength) • Difference in behavior between a welded seam and a riveted seam when a crack starts in the plating • How ship designers try to control or limit crack propagation in highly stressed longitudinal members

💭 Think About

• Look at where B is on the hull and imagine the ship sagging or hogging in a seaway. Is that seam in a high‑bending‑stress region or a low‑stress region? • If a long welded seam develops a crack, how does that crack tend to behave compared with a joint that is broken up by rivet holes and straps? • Which option best reflects a deliberate safety feature in structural design, rather than a cost or convenience choice?

✅ Before You Answer

• Eliminate any option that is clearly about saving money rather than structural behavior under stress. • Ask yourself which choices deal with crack behavior and hull girder failure, and which deal with general strength or flexibility but not specifically with stopping damage from spreading. • Remember that a riveted seam is more flexible and discontinuous than a welded seam; decide whether that is being used here mainly to make the hull stronger, cheaper, or to control the way damage spreads.