Feature 2 | MARINE COMPOSITES & CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
The group is currently building two carbon fibre rigs for yacht owners
Test facility “We are here to handle very large structures,” says Johnson. “In general, we would not be looking to take on the production of rigs and masts that are less than 60m in length, whether these are for superyachts or environmentally friendly supertankers – as with small vessel construction, it would not be the most cost-effective use of our resources,” he adds. Te longest rig or structure that the group would technically be able to produce, at present, would be in the region of 200m, he reveals, hence the importance of working from a waterside location on the UK’s southern coast; most structures that the company intends to create will be impossible to transport by road. Te group currently employs a specialist
workforce of 85 people, which is set to increase to 120 by the end of June this year, including 10 design engineers, in addition to specialists in fields such as extreme racing and even the aerospace industry. However, part of the group’s determination to focus on
sizeable structure construction is linked to its onsite testing facility, sum of a significant investment and home to an array of state-of- the-art robotics and systems that most UK composite manufacturers – and even dedicated test centres – lack. Te test building enables the workforce to
engage in compression, testing and fatigue testing of all rig and mast sessions, with accuracy remaining a key parameter; for
instance, the group has previously conducted 1/10th scale rig tests within these facilities. Although Johnson states that actual
carbon fibre vessel construction would not be a profitable venture for the group, unless orders of significant volumes were to flood in, the group is also looking at the possibility of carbon fibre construction in the subsea tidal turbine segment, most likely in the production of composite turbine blades. SBI
MOSAIC seeks to glue together steel and composite integration
Resistance to steel cracking and corrosion, and achievable, safe weight reductions, will come under the spotlight in an 11-partner, US$5.1 million EU project
attempt A 54
new EU-endorsed project is putting the spotlight on composite materials in shipbuilding, in an to realise an “environmentally
friendly, cost-efficient and safer” maritime sector within Europe, via reduced corrosion and lightship weight, and a greater focus on structural integrity. Titled ‘Materials On-board: Steel
Advancements and Integrated Composites’ (MOSAIC), the project has drawn on an EU budget of €4 million (US$5.1 million) and the support of 11 industry players in conducting R&D into new methods of composite design and build. In addition to MOSAIC coordinator and Italian research body CETENA, the
project will rely on input from: the University of Birmingham, UK; Croatia-based engineering solutions provider AS2CON; Te Welding Institute (TWI), UK; Cypriot ship manager Danaos Shipping; Italian builder Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani; the National Technical University of Athens, Greece; AIMEN Technological Centre, Spain; Estaleiros Navais de Peniche, Portugal; Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal; and UK class society Lloyd’s Register.
Research areas Te participants intend to investigate two particular areas related to boat and ship construction. Firstly, focus will be placed on the use of ‘high strength, low alloyed’
(HLSA) steels, regarding their positioning and function within ship structures, so as to avoid cracking and other types of damage. Secondly, composite materials, such as GRP, will be assessed concerning their weight- saving, corrosion-resistant properties – a special consideration when it comes to slashing fuel consumption and subsequent volumes of emissions. According to CETENA’s mission
statement: “Almost all large failures in ships start out as very small cracks in the steel at critical points, which grow with the repeating action of waves. If these cracks are not spotted in time, the ship may be in grave danger.” Te project is timed to run until September 2015. SBI
Ship & Boat International May/June 2013
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