Innovative project operational in 2010

Publication date 01 Jun '09

The functional requirements for unique (seagoing) vessels as set by the end user are becoming higher and higher in the yacht building and shipbuilding market. These can be requirements in the area of speed, unique design and safety but also in the field of dimensions and different options such as helicopter platforms and swimming pools on board. In the luxury yacht building sector in particular, extending dimensions and adding additional options may not be at the expense of the speed and manoeuvrability of the yacht.
When conventional structures and materials are used such as iron and steel, the weight, however, increases to such an extent that yacht builders can no longer meet all the requirements of the customer in some cases. 

These conflicting requirements in the area of strength, weight and the related fuel consumption means that the complexity of yacht building and shipbuilding increases and the focus is shifted to using new materials and structures.

A material that is strongly booming and is being used more and more often in the building of innovative megayachts and coast guard vessels is aluminium. The increasing interest in the use of aluminium is due to the strength, low weight and wear resistance of this material. This has led to this material being often used in industries where limiting the total weight is of crucial importance such as in aviation and space travel.
Aluminium, however, is only used to a limited extent in hull building in the yacht building and shipbuilding sectors, which are traditional in nature.

As an impediment to large-scale use of aluminium, current processing methods, such as plasma or laser cutting, are mainly cited. These methods have their limitations and too many disadvantages in order for aluminium to be used for hull building on a large scale. Damage or contamination of the part to be cut, for example, will lead to defects when fixing using welded joints. Alternative joints that are used in aviation and space travel such as adhesive techniques cannot be applied to maritime applications. This is due to the corrosive and adhesive-dissolving effect of seawater. These disadvantages limit the application of aluminium and, due to this, hamper the development of innovative vessels and concepts that cannot be realised with current materials and constructions.

We wish to develop a method in partnership with various project partners that makes it possible to use aluminium on an industrial scale and where the unfavourable effects of the use of aluminium are corrected.
By developing a fully automatic milling cell consisting of components for conveyance, positioning, text marking, various machining processes and automatic quality control, we believe we can realise the objectives.