NSRP Approves Twelve US Navy-Related R&D Projects
National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) approves US$1.8-million for 12 new cost-reducing projects. The NSRP Executive Control Board selected 12 new research and development projects for award as part of the National Shipbuilding Research ProgramÂ’s (NSRP) core mission to reduce the costs associated with Navy shipbuilding and repair. The projects, totaling approximately US$1.8-million, will be executed through the NSRP Ship Production Panels which serve as the programÂ’s primary public forum for industry-wide networking, technology transfer and best-practice sharing. Panel projects are relatively small, short timeframe projects that address the programÂ’s objectives of rapid implementation of innovative, cost-reducing technologies or processes.
CadCam Report
The Peene-Werft in Wolgast, Germany, has chosen Nupas-Cadmatic software solution as their main CAD/CAE/CAM system. During an implementation project of about two months, the shipyard will implement Nupas-Cadmatic for the complete Hull structure, Piping, Machinery and Outfitting including special customizations for the yard's high-tech production facilities like profile cutting robots, automated pipe workshop, web panels and their in-house material management system. The first project - building the first of a series of heavy cargo vessels - commenced in the beginning of February 2000. A group of about 20 engineers have been trained in several disciplines of the Nupas-Cadmatic system.
Current Uses of FEA in Shipbuilding
By Tony Abbey, Technical Manager, Noran Engineering, Inc. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was developed in the Aircraft Industry in the late 1950's as a way of handling the more complex structures that were evolving. Finite Element analysis has been used in the maritime industry for many years. Lloyds Register and other certification authorities were very early adopters of the technique. The NASTRAN FEA code was developed by NASA in the early 1960's to standardize FEA methods across contractors for the major Aerospace projects such as the Moon program and F-111. It was commercialized in the early 1980's. NE NASTRAN was introduced in the mid 1990's with the emphasis on the PC environment to avoid the expense of the mainframe computing bottlenecks that many large contractors were experiencing.
