Fraunhofer Institute News

Energy ecosystems are evolving as the value of offshore power-to-X production is being realized.Flexible and delivered in long lengths on reels in a fast-track operation, thermoplastic composite pipeline can transfer up to nine times the amount of energy as a cable and can be used to store hydrogen, increasing the uptime of offshore wind farm generated power.That’s according to Netherlands based supplier Strohm, member of the Hydrogen Offshore Production for Europe (HOPE) project and the Dutch floating green hydrogen and ammonia OFFSET project.

As maritime digests a number of historical changes, Norway’s Fjellstrand shipyard wants to put aside the rule book and look at the whole process in a new way, reducing engineering costs up to 70% and production costs up to 20%.The process of designing and building a ship, even in today’s highly standardized mass manufacturing environment, remains largely a one-off, one-of-a-kind design and build. Ships are most often built to a shipowner’s or operator’s specific requirements, which are often based on fixed parameters such as speed…

As maritime digests a number of historical changes, Norway’s Fjellstrand shipyard wants to put aside the rule book and look at the whole process in a new way, reducing engineering costs up to 70% and production costs up to 20%.The process of designing and building a ship, even in today’s highly standardized mass manufacturing environment, remains largely a one-off, one-of-a-kind design and build. Ships are most often built to a shipowner’s or operator’s specific requirements, which are often based on fixed parameters such as speed…

Hong Kong–German shipbuilding company MV Werften put into operation the laser-hybrid welding line in its new hall 11 for producing panels measuring up to 25 x 16 meters for the Global Class cruise ships.Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Economics Minister Harry Glawe, representatives of Genting Hong Kong, MV Werften , the automation provider Pemamek as well as other project partners were present in the new Hall 11 when the plant produced its first weld seam.“The new plant enables us to make a significant increase in the capacity of our steel prefabrication for the Global cruise ships in Rostock and take a further, important step towards Industry 4.0.

When a person goes overboard, finding her or him quickly is crucial in order to have a chance of rescuing the shipwrecked person. With the SEERAD project, Fraunhofer FHR is joining forces with FH Aachen and Raytheon Anschütz GmbH to develop a new sea rescue radar that is not only capable of reliably locating individual persons or small boats over long distances but also cheaper than the current systems.With this system, small transponders located in life jackets, for instance, will reflect the signals of future maritime radars, which then receive these signals using an extension module.

From propellers and components to entire ships, there is hardly anything additive manufacturing will not be able to make one day. 3D printing technology is still in its infancy, but experts agree that it will forever change the global flow of products; at the same time, however, it may open up entirely new perspectives for shipping. For example, by creating the ability to provide spare parts just in time at any place in the world. The 3D printing market harbors enormous potential…

There was record attendance at the Maritime Propulsion Services BV (MPS) open day on May 23 when more than 200 delegates from shipyards, classification societies and workshops around the world gathered together in Drunen. Apart from the four propellers which were in the workshop for repair, on display were some of the latest developments in quality control as well as repair procedures and technology. These included state of the art nondestructive ultrasonic techniques to inspect either for porosities in bronze castings or weld repairs on propeller blades.

Rolls-Royce recognised as one of the best in Europe for 'Technology Management' by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology. The 'Successful Practice Award' was presented recently at a ceremony held in Vaals, the Netherlands. Rolls-Royce, which has invested over £7.5 billion in the last ten years on Research and Development, was commended for its long-term strategic approach to technology development. Also highlighted were its network of University Technology Centres…

Fatigue assessment in shipping is vital in order to predict the structural durability of welded joints. Structures" at Germanischer Lloyd headquarter. all over Europe and Asia. assessment of fatigue behaviour of welded structures. as well as crack propagation calculations. structures. structures. appropriate repair measures were presented. reliability assessment within design, fabrication and operation.