Rapid Application of New Technologies
SCRA's affiliate, ATI, leads several programs that conduct and apply research on behalf of the US Navy and the US shipbuilding industry.
An ATI-managed shipyard collaboration has generated nearly $400 Million in cost reduction.
Under a contract with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), SCRA’s affiliate, ATI, leads the Navy’s Center of Excellence for development and deployment of shipbuilding and ship repair manufacturing technologies.
ATI also leads an industry consortium that collaborates to reduce the cost and improve the quality of Navy ships.
ATI manages a Navy Center of Excellence that develops and implements composites applications that improve performance and drive down the cost of building and maintaining ships and other systems.
Agile seabases increase the ability to react quickly to situations around the globe without depending on foreign cooperation to establish bases of operation. Effective seabasing requires improvements in the way materials are loaded and stored on ships at sea. ATI-led teams develop and implement cargo handling systems to support seabasing initiatives.
ATI Applied Research Programs have Produced an Impressive Portfolio of Technological Innovations
An ATI-led Navy ManTech Center of Excellence develops advanced manufacturing technologies and deploys them in US shipyards. The goal is to reduce the cost and time required to build and repair Navy ships.
To date, this work has led to over $20M in total “per hull” cost savings across several US Navy platforms.
Recent initiatives include:
Improved design, engineering and manufacturing for VIRGINIA Class Submarines. Expected results include production cycle time reductions from 84 to 60 months, reduced design/engineering costs by as much as $3.65M per year and a per hull savings of $5.275M/hull.
A laser imaging technique that uses 3-D digital ship design data helps determine the quantity and location of various submarine attachments. The project team cut its dependency on paper templates and string measurements using the new approach, and installed 4,822 electrical and ventilation hangers and approximately 8,862 studs in 21 hull cylinders during the pilot program. The ultimate result will be an estimated 85 percent reduction in labor (more than 7,700 man hours) and up to $500,000 cost savings per hull. The shape of the submarine´s hull is ideally suited to this technology, and other ship construction applications are also being analyzed.
Another project optimizes assembly in the outfitting phase of submarine manufacture. Where possible, production work has been moved from highly congested, time-consuming work inside the hull to manufacturing cells. Cost saving of $1.5M per hull are expected.
Composite Applications for the US Navy
An SCRA-managed Navy ManTech Center of Excellence in Composites is developing ways to apply advanced materials in US military systems. Composites offer many benefits, including corrosion resistance and weight reduction, and can be tailored for individual applications. Recent work on VIRGINIA Class submarines will save over $100M in acquisition costs.
Integrated Structural Apertures - Affordable and reliable manufacturing processes to embed multiple radar apertures in structural surfaces.
EFV: Troop Ramp Door - Incorporates composite structural armor into the expeditionary fighting vehicle troop ramp door, reducing the weight by 20%, reducing the cost, and maintaining the original ballistic protection.
Composite Marine Impeller - Low cost tailored composite impeller/blade sets to replace multi-axis machined titanium components.
Resin Infusion Process - Predictable and repeatable process for fabricating carbon/vinyl ester composite structures; critical to manufacturing key composite structures in support of an evolutionary US Navy vessel.
Zumalt Class Destroyers (DDG-1000) – Investments in large composite structures to reduce acquisition cost and life-cycle costs have realized a per ship cost avoidance of over $3M to date resulting in a total cost avoidance of over $9M.
Virginia Class Submarines –The Navy has invested heavily in composite applications to reduce acquisition and life-cycle costs while improving performance and increasing the payload capacity of these platforms. The per ship cost avoidance realized to date is $5.5M resulting in a total cost avoidance of over $110M.
Out of Autoclave Processes - Very large tooling - or autoclaves - are currently required to produce many high-performance composite parts used in submarines, planes, ground-based weapon systems, and NASA launch vehicles. SCRA leads a team that is developing new manufacturing techniques to produce these mission-critical parts without the use of expensive autoclaves.
Advances in On-Board Weapons Handling
The current process of unpacking weapon components from their stowage containers and readying them for use is extremely time consuming, labor intensive, and requires a significant amount of deck area (500-1,000 sq. ft. per weapon). Automating this process will enable air-capable ships to increase aircrafts, while decreasing the manpower involved in the process. One study shows that this technology could help reduce the manning needs for the weapons handling onboard a carrier by as much as 25%.
High Rate Vertical/Horizontal Material Movement
This project covers the Science and Technology development of an automated vertical/horizontal shipboard cargo movement system to replace existing elevators, conveyors, dumb waiters, chain falls, etc. on a variety of naval vessels. The system will be capable of seamless movement of various sized cargo, packages, pallets and weapons. The system will:
- Optimize cargo throughput - Reduce human workload and enhance safety - Reduce bottlenecks - Require fewer material handling equipment transfers
Cargo Restraint System
An ATI-led team developed a device to reduce the time required to secure and release cargo on the deck of the US Navy’s Landing Craft, Air Cushion vessel. The system is self-contained, capable of automatic tensioning, self-adjusting under load restraining operations, and features automatic release and remote operation. Planned capabilities include de-tensioning for each selected cargo load, essentially providing an “item-by-item” unloading capability. Benefits include:
- Increased sortie rates - Reduced personnel exposure in potential hostile fire zones - 50-70% reduction in load time and 30-40% reduction in release time