production illustrations and other uses of CAD data outside of engineering. Over 3000 assembly prototypes were eliminated and virtually all aerodynamic modelling was done without physical models in a wind tunnel. Boeing expanded digital prototyping
for the Boeing 787 which led to even fewer physical prototypes and saved time and money in other areas as well. For example, at one point, the chief pilot for the 787 was doing a virtual test flight and was able to see some issues related to fin control. Using a digital prototype, designers were able to evaluate 50 new possible fin configurations, test them and make the appropriate changes to the rest of the design in only about four weeks. With the old way of working, Boeing might have only been able to evaluate three or four new fin configurations and it would have taken at least three or four months.
Jaguar Land Rover The automotive sector has not fully integrated digital mockups into their entire organisations as compared to the aerospace industry but several interesting applications of the concept have appeared such as Jaguar Land Rover’s Digital Cave, introduced in 2008. It allows engineers to simulate testing in wind tunnels, drive vehicles in a variety of conditions and to design mechanical components. Instead of looking at a computer terminal however, it lets engineers enter a “cave” surrounded by acrylic screens onto which images with 4096 x 2160 resolution are projected. Jaguar Land Rover says this tool has saved more than £8 million in development costs by allowing better communication and understanding.
Digital prototyping in shipbuilding Te shipbuilding industry has started to use some aspects of digital prototyping recently though not as commonly as in other sectors. Shipbuilders are utilising digital prototyping for Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and increasingly for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations. A number of shipyards are also using Virtual Reality for design review. However, none of these tools is used as extensively as in the airline or
The Naval Architect July/August 2011
Jaguar Land Rover’s Virtual Cave.
automotive industry at the moment. With shipbuilding-related CFD for example, despite some quite impressive academic research being generated by academics, shipbuilding CFD is still approximately where FEA was about 20 years ago. Furthermore, notwithstanding
the strides being taken by numerous shipbuilders to adopt the digital approach, simple two-dimensional, paper drawings created in basic soſtware are still the norm in most shipyards. Even when 3D models are used for design review it is usually only managers and engineers who are using the data. Workers in the shipyard rarely participate in these reviews as they do in the aerospace industry. Because of this lack of inclusion, designs are not always optimised for efficient production.
Shop floor 3D: Shintec Hozumi In other industries, efficiency is enhanced via extending the digital prototyping concept beyond the office to incorporate shop floor 3D. For instance, an example of a company using what a Japanese Manufacturing textbook calls this “familiar use of 3D data at the workplace,” is a company named Shintec Hozumi. Shintec Hozumi manufactures
automobile production facilities and factory distribution systems. Large monitors and displays on carts are installed across the plant so that staff can search for required manufacturing
information as well as refer to 3D data. As a result, production staff members are able to directly access information that shows the 3D shapes of products being assembled alongside information such as part names, and so on. Te company has found that this tool aids in communication and productivity.
Why shipbuilding lags other industries. Tere are several reasons why the industry has not adopted these cutting edge technologies as extensively as in the plant, aerospace and automotive industries. A number of monetary, structural and cultural forces reduce the likelihood that time, effort and money will be spent on design and engineering including the facts that:
• Shipbuilding is more complex (far more parts)
• Smaller series runs reduce design cost amortisation
• Design & Engineering is a smaller proportion of cost
• Tere is a requirement to make money on each ship
• Tendency to build before design is complete
• Smaller industry reduces influence amongst technology providers
• Lack of payment during the design phase
• High fragmentation of the shipbuilding 33
Feature 1
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68