Overview
Project Lead: Huntington Ingalls Industries-Ingalls Shipbuilding
Project Title: Alternate Leak Detection Methods
Period of Performance: 07/2017 – 05/2018
Objective
The Department of Defense (US Navy) budget continues the challenge to meet new goals for fleet size and increased acquisition activity. An acquisition cost goal set by the US Navy has been to reduce the construction costs for FORDClass aircraft carriers by 20%. A major portion of the strategy to achieve this goal is the use of technology insertion to reduce fabrication cost. Using the Navy ManTech program to support this endeavor addresses high priority defense needs, aids in achieving reduced acquisition cost, and transitions improved manufacturing technology to production. The Adopting GMAW for Robotic Panel Line Fillet Welding Operations project will determine the advantages of converting legacy equipment from a Robotic Flux Core Arc Welding Mechanized (R-FCAW-ME) process to a Robotic Gas Metal Arc Welding Mechanized (R-GMAW-ME) process. The project team will compare the current baseline welds to the welds fabricated with the R-GMAWME process. Once the NNS shipyard evaluation activities are completed and the process has achieved successful results against project expectations, NNS can develop positive supporting documentation for implementation using capital funding. For the initial business case, cost savings for ROI calculation purposes are estimated at approximately $3.4M, if fully implemented. Cost savings are expected to be realized by converting manual welding operations to a robotic welding operation, saving time through increased travel speed and improved arc-on time. The Center for Naval Metalworking (CNM) is a Navy ManTech Center of Excellence, chartered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to identify, develop and deploy, in U.S. manufacturing facilities, advanced manufacturing technologies that will reduce the cost and time to build and repair Navy ships and aviation assets. For additional information on this and other CNM projects, please visit https://www.navalmetalworking.org/.
Benefits/Payoff
Estimated Savings:
$949K over 5 years per DDG 51 Hull
$474K over 5years per NCS Hull
$820K over 5 years per LPD Hull
$759K over 5years per LHA Hull
Implementation
Department of Defense budgets continue to shrink. Technology insertion is a key driver to reduce fabrication cost. The Navy ManTech Program is participating in this initiative, with specific focus on manufacturing processes for ship construction. The ManTech Center for Naval Metalworking (CNM) and Huntington Ingalls Industries – Ingalls Shipbuilding (Ingalls) have identified an area that can benefit from improved manufacturing processes and technologies to continue cost reduction efforts. The goal of the project is to evaluate candidate nondestructive testing (NDT) methods as alternatives for soap bubble leak detection. Ingalls will evaluate any inspection trends that identify recurring weld defects. The envisioned improvement will implement a new inspection technology that removes the manual application of soap and water to the weld joints. This project will determine technology applicability to the shipbuilding industry, develop new processes, and confirm anticipated savings. Upon successful and timely completion of the Alternate Leak Detection Methods ManTech project and acceptance of the technology and associated business case by the acquisition Program Office, the results will be transitioned to the Ingalls facility. This technology, once implemented, over five years could potentially save an estimated $949K per DDG 51 hull, $474K per NCS hull, $820K per LPD hull, and $759K per LHA hull. CNM is a Navy ManTech Center of Excellence, chartered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to identify, develop and deploy, in U.S. manufacturing facilities, advanced manufacturing technologies that will reduce the cost and time to build and repair Navy ships and aviation assets. For additional information on this and other CNM projects, please visit https://www.navalmetalworking.org/.
*Prepared under ONR Contract xxxxxx-xx-x-xxxx as part of the Navy ManTech Program.
*DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. DCN# xxxx-xxx-xx; Approval Date: xx/xx/xxxx