Abstract: Ship construction is tending to large-scale development, the size of the supporting tiller of large ships also increases, the procurement cost and construction difficulty will also increases correspondingly. At present, the tiller and the rudder of the ship mainly adopt two connection ways: hydraulic-keyed connection and dry-keyed connection. By analyzing and studying the connection modes between tiller and rudder, this paper obtains the optimal connection mode which meets the requirements,is convenient for construction. The parts are lightweight, which has important engineering significance. Combined with the requirements of classification Society, this paper takes a large container ship as an example, and on the basis of the two traditional connection methods, puts forward the third connection method of hydraulic-keyed connection method. The three connection methods are compared in the paper, and the finite element method is used to check the strength, and the conclusions of push up load, push-up and material yield strength are obtained. In the end, an optimal connection mode which meets the requirements of real ship is obtained, which is convenient for ship yard construction. The designed tiller is lightweight.

Key words: tiller, rudder, hydraulic-keyed connection