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Development and proof of new approaches for through-life asset management based on next generation of materials and production technology

Final Report Summary - THROUGHLIFE (Development and proof of new approaches for through-life asset management based on next generation of materials and production technology)

Executive Summary:
According to a survey carried out by the ThroughLife project, increasing the energy efficiency through applying new technologies is the most promising measure to cope with the major future cost drivers: Fuel and environmental legislation. However, the introduction of new technologies bring with certain risks like uncertainty about the technical reliability of new technologies and incalculable costs.

The ThroughLife project developed new approaches for through-life asset management to optimise the lifecycle performance of vessels and to strengthen the European maritime industry. In particular, new business model concepts are developed in close collaboration with industry stakeholders to increase the business relationship efficiency and to foster the market introduction of new technologies by finding ways to reduce or overcome the uncertainty of the customer.

In addition, the ThroughLife project also investigated and tested promising new technologies to increase the lifecycle performance of vessels. Thereby the application of a river cruiser sundeck has been assessed with the goal to realise substantial weight savings to reduce the lifecycle costs thanks to fuel savings. Another application case focuses on decelerating the propagation of corrosion in ballast water tanks by applying self-healing coatings. A test series in the ballast water tank of an operating Ro-Pax ferry showed promising results. In addition, condition monitoring has been tested to detect corrosion and to optimise the maintenance schedule based on the actual condition in the ballast water tank, which was also tested in the ballast water tank of an operating Ro-Pax ferry. Moreover, different anti-abrasive coatings have been tested in an especially designed facility that simulates the abrasion in the cargo space of hopper suction dredgers with the goal to identify coatings with a higher abrasion resistance than steel to prolong the steel replacement intervals. Every investigated technology has been evaluated in lifecycle performance assessments to identify their potential contribution to the ThroughLife objectives.

The ThroughLife approach combines the innovative technologies with one of the developed business models to realise synergies in order to boost the lifecycle optimisation potential and foster the market introduction of new technologies.

The final report summarises the project objectives, the main scientific and technology results as well as the potential impact and the main dissemination activities and exploitation of the results.

Project Context and Objectives:
Fuel and environmental legislation are considered to be the major future cost drivers throughout a vessel´s lifecycle according to a survey among yards, ship operators and other stakeholders in the maritime industry carried out by the ThroughLife project. In order to cope with these future challenges, the respondents agree that increasing the energy efficiency through applying new technologies is the most promising measure. However, the survey has also identified uncertainty about the technical reliability of new technologies and incalculable costs as the main barriers for the introduction of new technologies. With the goal to overcome these barriers the ThroughLife project develops new approaches for through-life asset management to optimise the economic and ecological lifecycle performance of vessels.

Therefore the ThroughLife project focuses on potential lifecycle benefits of applying new technologies including real-life demonstrator tests, like bio-composite or self-healing coating, and how the market introduction of new technologies can be pushed by new business models, that consider all lifecycle phases. In addition, the application of condition monitoring is examined to ensure the reliability and cost effectiveness of new technologies.

In more detail, the ThroughLife project pursues at the following objectives:

• Concepts and ideas for innovative joint life cycle services involving new building and repair yards as well as ship owners and operators
• Efficient and environmentally friendly techniques and materials for ship production (new-building), operation (maintenance, repair, conversion) and end-of life (dismantling, recycling and/or reuse);
• Condition monitoring and assessment combining information from all life cycle phases and stake holders using state-of-the-art information and communication
• Strategies and tools for predictive, condition and risk based maintenance and repair, including decision support for repair, reuse, recycling or scrapping of materials, components or modules

In order to achieve the introduced results, the ThroughLife project pursues a double-track approach to invent new business models for asset management on the one hand and the development of new and innovative technologies to improve the lifecycle performance including prototype testing on the other hand. In the end, the combination of a new business model and the application of an innovative technology could create synergies and thereby optimise the lifecycle performance of various vessel types.


Figure 1: the ThroughLife approach

Therefore new business models for the maritime industry are developed through the course of several public workshops to ensure close collaboration with stakeholders of the maritime industry. The results are four promising business model concepts to increase the efficiency of business relationship and thereby decrease the lifecycle costs of vessels. Special emphasis was put on and to foster the market penetration of new technologies by reducing the uncertainty in terms of reliability. The results are four promising business model concepts, which are described in chapter 1.3.1. in more detail.

On the other hand, a wide range of new and innovative technologies were investigated including traditional and bio-composite, innovative steels, the innovative self-healing coating and the implementation of condition monitoring with the goal to reduce the lifecycle cost. The investigations resulted in different design concepts and in specific application cases for the three ship types within the ThroughLife project:

Ship type Application LCA Contribution
River cruiser Composite sundeck Weight savings
Ro-Pax ferry Self-healing coating Decelerate the propagation of corrosion in the ballast water tank
Ro-Pax ferry Condition monitoring Detect corrosion propagation and optimise th e maintenance schedule based on the actual condition
Hopper suction dredger Different anti-abrasive coatings Increase the abrasion resistance in cargo spaces to prolong the replacement intervals
Table 1: ThroughLife application cases

For each of described technologies a prototype has been built and tested. Thereby the prototype ranges from a full-scale section of a river cruiser sundeck made of composite to specimen sprayed with self-healing coating and tested in the ballast water tank of a Ro-pax ferry. The prototype-tests have been evaluated with a special focus on the lifecycle performance and an assessment of potential synergies with the developed business model concepts to achieve an optimisation of the lifecycle performance of vessel and thereby strengthen European shipyards, ship operator and maritime equipment manufacturer.

Project Results:
The ThroughLife project has developed and proofed new approaches for through-life asset management for selected technologies and application scenarios.

Therefore several new business model concepts were developed through a course of overall nine workshops with the goal to elaborate new approaches for though-life asset management of vessels. The results are four new business model concepts that improve the business relationship throughout the lifecycle of a vessel and offering benefits for all involved stakeholders, especially for new building yards, the ship owner or ship operator and repair yards. Moreover the implementation of the developed business models for though-life services would foster the market introduction of new technologies by reducing the uncertainty of the potential customer in terms of technical reliability and incalculable cost.

On the other hand, several new technologies have been developed to increase the lifecycle performance of different ship types. As an example, an lightweight composite sundeck for river cruisers has been designed, produced and tested with the goal to decrease the fuel consumption and to reduce the maintenance costs. The corresponding lifecycle performance assessment proofed significant lifecycle cost reduction and an improved ecological footprint thanks to the fuel savings. Other developed technologies with the potential to improve the lifecycle performance include self-healing coatings to decelerate corrosion propagation in ballast water tank, anti-abrasive coatings to increase the abrasion resistance in cargo spaces of hopper suction dredgers and the development of condition monitoring to optimise the maintenance and repair scheduling throughout the lifecycle.

Thereby the ThroughLife approach foresees to combine the application of one of the innovative technology with the implementation of a new business model to utilise synergies to optimise the lifecycle performance of vessels.

The main S & T results of the ThroughLife project are summarised in more detail in the following.

1.3.1 ThroughLife business models

Several stakeholders’ workshops, an online survey and personal interviews were conducted to discover the future business challenges within the maritime industry. The industrial stakeholders pointed out increasing fuel costs and environmental legislation as main burdens for their businesses. They also agreed on the needed actions to cope with these challenges. These are increased energy efficiency, intensification of research and development activities, and the application of new technologies.
On the other hand, the stakeholders expressed concerns about the application of new technologies. The risk of failure was estimated to be high here. In addition, the production and repair processes are unknown and costs estimations are very difficult. An appropriate business model for new technologies could be a way to overcome these barriers, for example, the risks may be share between the contracting parties.
In the first step, today´s business models were investigated in order to get order to identify optimisation potentials. Based on these investigations, new concepts of business models were developed in close cooperation with different stakeholders of the industry. Out of six investigated business model concepts, four business models are the most promising.




1.3.1.1. Service contracts

The Full-service business model pursues the transfer of comprehensive after-sales services established in other industry (like aeronautic) to the maritime industry. The concept foresees that one provider serves all required services throughout the lifecycle of the ship in return of a fixed, time based fee. The ship operator would benefit from calculable costs and an optimised service quality, since the service provider has the incentive to minimise additional services.
The service contract business model concept was elaborated in collaboration with stakeholders of the maritime industry in the course of overall five workshops. The result is the business model description in a business model canvas, SWOT-analysis for all involved stakeholders and model calculations.
The advantage for the service provider is the continuous revenue flow based on the fixed, time based fee. By running multiple contracts, the service provider can diversify the risk and realise economies of scale. Moreover, the service contract assures a long-term business relationship.
Besides the calculable costs the ship operator would benefit from reduced management costs due to one point of contact for all services. In addition, the service quality would improve, since the service provider has the incentive to perform high quality services in order to avoid costs for additional services. Moreover, holistic service contracts foster the application of new technologies based on assured reparability and the reduction of uncertainty about the technical reliability.
As a result, the full-service business model demonstrates the potential to create a win-win situation for all involved stakeholders.

1.3.1.2. Ship information file

The ship information file is business model concept with the goal to improve the information flow between the stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of a ship. Therefore the ship information file collects all relevant data of the ship, like construction plans, maintenance and repair guidelines, documentation of repairs, inspection reports etc. in an online data base that is accessible for all stakeholders involved in the lifecycle of a specific ship. The available information reduces the costs of the asymmetric information distribution throughout the entire lifecycle of a ship.
As an example, repair yards could perform faster and better repairs based on the available and updated construction plan that would reduce the required time for investigating the ship. Moreover, the available information about the applied materials enables the repair yard to prepare their activities.
The business model concept was elaborated in collaboration with stakeholders of the maritime industry in the course of overall five workshops. The result is the business model description in a business model canvas, SWOT-analysis for all involved stakeholders and model calculations.
The results demonstrate the opportunity for creating a win-win situation for all involved stakeholders by improving the information flow between the stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of a ship. Thereby new building yards would benefit from product feedback, repair yards could increase the efficiency of their service and gain competitive advantages, whereas ship operators could realise reduced lifecycle costs.
In addition, the ship information file could foster the application of innovative technologies by providing specific information for the handling of the new technology, like maintenance and repair guidelines.

1.3.1.3. MRO-network

The MRO-network is a privileged partnership between the new building yard and repair yards with the goal of offering high quality lifecycle services. Thereby the repair yards would be supported with original construction plans, original spare parts as well as repair and maintenance coaching. Repair yards would market their service under the label of the MRO-network, which would serve as a sign of quality.
The MRO-network business model concept was elaborated in collaboration with stakeholders of the maritime industry in the course of overall five workshops. The result is the business model description in a business model canvas, SWOT-analysis for all involved stakeholders and model calculations.
In addition, the MRO-network could be combined with the developed service contract business model and would thereby enhance the scope of the service provider. The results underline the economic benefits for new building yards, for which the MRO-network works as an additional selling argument. For repair yards the MRO-network is a way to expand their business. Especially the combination with full-service contracts enhances the benefits for the stakeholders, since the service would be available worldwide and requires the participation of a number of repair yards.

1.3.1.4. Premium ship pricing

The premium ship pricing business model pursues the goal to foster the market introduction of new technologies. Thereby the potential customers of innovative, more expensive technology shall be convinced in an agreed test phase, in which the new building phase defrays the additional investment costs of the innovation. After a successful test phase the ship owner pays the additional investment costs.
Premium ship pricing is developed as method to reduce the risk of the ship operator when applying new technologies by transferring the performance risk to the new building yard.
The premium ship pricing business model concept was elaborated in collaboration with stakeholders of the maritime industry in the course of overall five workshops. The result is the business model description in a business model canvas, SWOT-analysis for all involved stakeholders and model calculations.
The results illustrate the potential of this business model concept to foster the market penetration of new technologies. By applying this method new building yards could find a way to apply and proof innovative technologies in order to achieve a competitive advantage. The ship owner would benefit from a test phase with a lower risk level and potential cost savings from day one. On the other hand, the agreement on success criteria, the additional effort for measurement s and second acceptance process as well as potential lawsuit are identified as challenges towards an implementation of this business model.

1.3.3 Structural Designs, demonstrators and assessment


1.3.3.1. Structural design studies of a composite sandwich sundeck for a river cruiser

Twelve structural designs have been developed for a sundeck of a river cruiser. The designs comprise a structure in:

- full composite deck and guiders & hybrid composite deck/ steel girders
- traditional and bio composite,
- corrugated or not sandwich cores
- I-beam and square tube composite girders (for full composite structure)

The designs fulfil the structural and physical requirements of the shipyard, ship-owner and the DNV rules for composites.
The designs have been developed through several Finite Element optimisation analyses. Several mechanical tests have been carried out at different level (coupon and full scale) in order to determine the required material properties of the green composite necessary for the FE analyses and to prove the FE models. Weight, material and production costs have been calculated from the developed design.
Based on the state of the art of end of life routes of composite, the cost related to the three most likely end of life routes to be used have been estimated.
The different costs have been put together and the overall lifecycle costs with amortisations calculated for each design. The life cycle costs have been compared between each other. From the view of the life cycle costs, the best sundeck design is with a full composite structure made from corrugated traditional (glass fibre) composite sandwich panels.


1.3.3.2. Composite sundeck prototype

Based on the structural design studies of a composite sandwich sundeck, a full-scale demonstrator with dimensions of 11.4mx11.2 m, which represents a part of a river cruiser sundeck full ship width and 4 cabin slots in length, was produced and tested. The performed tests proofed the feasibility of building river cruiser sundecks out of composite from strength point of view with good resistance against point loads and limited deflection. Moreover the prototype represents an attractive show case to convince potential customer of the new material.

1.3.3.3. Lifecycle cost calculation for river cruiser sundeck designs

Within the ThroughLife project several river cruiser sundeck designs were developed. Part of their evaluation was the assessment of the potential lifecycle cost savings. Therefore the several different input parameters of the lifecycle cost calculation were discussed with the composite experts from SICOMP and the shipbuilding experts of Meyer Werft. Special emphasis was put on the evaluation of the different end-of life routes and their impact on the lifecycle costs. The gathered data has been translated into the BAL.LCPA tool to perform the lifecycle cost calculation.
The investigated composite sundeck structures have substantially higher investment cost of up to 245.6%. On the other hand, significant weight savings of the composite structures lead to extensively fuel savings and the reduced maintenance effort contributes as well to an overall reduction of the operational costs throughout the lifecycle.

1.3.3.4. Structural design studies of a composite sandwich car-deck for a Ro-Ro ship

Eight structural designs have been developed for a car-deck of a Ro-Ro ship. The designs comprise a structure in:

- Supported only by a steel frame & supported by steel girders and frame
- Traditional and bio composite,
- Corrugated or not sandwich cores

The designs fulfil the structural and physical requirements of the shipyard, ship-owner and the DNV rules for composites.
The designs have been developed through several Finite Element optimisation analyses. Several mechanical tests have been carried out at coupon level to determine the required material properties of the green composite necessary for the FE analyses. Weight, material and production costs have been calculated from the developed design.
Based on the state of the art of end of life routes of composite, the cost related to the three most likely end of life routes to be used have been estimated. The different costs have been put together and the overall life cycle costs with amortisations calculated for each design. The life cycle costs have been compared between each other. From the view of the life cycle costs, the best sundeck design is with a structure made from corrugated traditional (glass fibre) composite sandwich panels supported by 7 girders and a frame in steel.

1.3.3.5. Comparison for bio-composite sandwich beams of mechanical tests with FE model

In order to gain knowledge on the production of bio-based composite sandwich ship structures and to verify the accuracy of the FE models, which were used for the several designs for the composite sundeck of a river cruiser, flax fibre composite sandwich panels have been manufactured and beam specimens corresponding to the FE models have been cut from the panels and tested.
Three-point bending tests have been carried out on 9 beams cut from 2 panels. Additionally, tensile tests have been carried out on a flax fibre composite laminate, to be used as facing of the sandwich panels, in order to determine the exact properties of the laminates.
In total 3 panels have been produced, as the 2 first panels were not of acceptable quality. Two different methods and 2 different resins have been used: first 2 panels hand lay-up with 100% bio-resin, third panel infusion with epoxy resin.
The results of the 3-point bending tests have been compared to the corresponding FE models but unfortunately the accuracy of the FE model could not be verified due to quality of the panels and the estimations of the flax fibres mechanical properties.
Although the FE models have been modified to fit as much as possible to the tests, the differences stayed large.
Finally the study has allowed discovering unforeseen characteristics of bio-composite components such as the viscosity variation of the bio-resin between several batches.
The foreground is available in the form of a report with pictures and results graphs.

1.3.3.6. End of life routes for composites: state of the art and costs estimations

In order to provide costs estimations of the end of life routes of composites to the life cycle cost analyses of the sundeck and car-deck (see first and second foreground), the state of the art on the end of life routes for both traditional and bio composites has been compiled.
The state of the art describes the status and methods of recycling and reuse in Europe and the existing end of life options. It also shows that there are 3 classes of recycling route: mechanical, chemical and thermal and that most of them have never been implemented as commercial technologies while some have been commercialised but have not been economically feasible. However, it has been found that the scenario is changing.
Another outcome is that reuse of composite and the use of bio composite is increasing due the environmental issues and the changes in the European union legislation.
Seven different end-of-life routes are presented and the likelihood for each of them to be used in 30 years from now is discussed. The costs related to the three most likely end-of-life routes to be used are introduced. However their estimations have been difficult since commercial recycling and/or reuse options for composites are neither as well developed nor as straightforward as in the case of steel.


1.3.3.7. Multi Material Panel MMP

A multi material panel (MMP) is a structural building panel which consists of metallic (steel) sheets in combination with synthetic material. It is basically a sandwich panel with metallic facings and a synthetic foam core. It has been demonstrated that compared with the conventional stiffened plate panel, superior mechanical properties can be realised at 40% weight reduction. Moreover heat insulation and fire protection properties are intrinsic to the MMP. Technical evidence is available from theoretical analyses and documented in a written report. No prototype data available, since the project decided to elaborate on a conventional (all synthetic) sandwich panel.


1.3.4 Coatings

1.3.4.1. Self-healing protective coatings

Model coating system containing different concentrations of microcapsules filled with a healing agent and a corrosion inhibitor.
The protective properties of corrosion inhibition coatings are impaired upon damage of the coating layer. Micro-cracks are developing in the cause of stress and strain to which the structural parts are subjected. Such small damages can hardly be detected visually but may fast evolve to larger cracks disrupting the protective effect of the coating. The ThroughLife coating contains microcapsules filled with a healing agent that is able to seal the micro-cracks and prevent further crack growth and hence extends the lifetime of the corrosion protection. Such a self-healing system would be particularly beneficial for areas which are difficult to access, e.g. in ballast water tanks of ships.

1.3.4.2. Anti-abrasive technologies

Different commercially available abrasive protection technologies analysed and tested (lab test, real life simulation test at shipyard, test on the ship) which may improve the abrasion resistance and reduce maintenance cost on a hopper suction dredger.
The plating in the cargo space of the Hopper Suction Dredger is subjected to abrasion caused by the flow of fluidized sand, gravel, stones, which is aggravated by corrosion. Because of the abrasion it is necessary to replace the plates approximately every 8-10 years, some parts of the structure as often as every 2-3 years. In order to meet the required time frame of replacements the cargo hold plating thickness is increased by additional 3 mm (owner’s request). The frequent replacement of the structure causes significant direct costs as well as lost earnings while the ship has to be taken out of service for 3-15 weeks for each replacement. One way to improve the abrasion resistance is the application of consumable abrasion protection like an anti-abrasive coatings or special type of steel (HARDOX). Six most promising commercial coatings together with the reference coating were tested under laboratory conditions (abrasion resistance, adhesion), while three coatings with best lab test results where further tested on a specially designed device for real life simulation at the shipyard. On the same device where further tested a thermal spray coating and the HARDOX tile plates glued to the standard steel.

1.3.5 Monitoring

1.3.5.1. System for condition monitoring using structural sensors

The system is based on the use of fiber optics sensors for condition monitoring of Ballast Water Tanks and data analysis and processing leading to determine stress variations and residual thickness of steel elements. The system can be easily extended to any structural system subjected to structural changes due to changes in internal/external conditions. Monitoring of fatigue cycles and their effects is one of the main problems that could be monitored by fibre optics structural sensors.

1.3.5.2. ThroughLife condition-based maintenance system

An approach for leveraging condition monitoring to enable condition-based (and risk-based and predictive) maintenance to trigger inspection tasks autonomously and therefore to minimize costs, maximizing the reliability of information and the effectiveness of intervention.

1.3.5.3. Data acquisition unit (Hardware / Software) for environmental sensors

The data acquisition unit for environmental sensors has developed. It consists of a hardware and software solution for the collection, processing and storage of ambient data measured in a ballast water tank. The subsystems of this solution are described in three deliverables.


1.3.5.4. Software for condition-based maintenance

A software system and conceptual framework was developed to support improved management targeting a reduction in life cycle costs. The developments within ThroughLife took as their starting point an existing system developed in the flagship project which was essentially a database of hull components linked to a 3D model and XML file format which allowed surveyors, maintenance yards and ship owners to exchange information on the condition of hull items, planned repairs and to record the results of maintenance or survey actions.
Work within ThroughLife enhanced this existing system by integrating it into condition monitoring devices to allow it to automatically obtain and display data from, IES coating sensors, fibre optic and environmental sensors. Thus transforming it from a system for manual recording of information to a system for continuous monitoring.
Algorithms and models were implemented to take advantage of this data, to detect coating condition, calculate expected fatigue damage, and to adjust corrosion predictions on the basis of measured coating condition and both measured and expected environmental conditions. The resulting system thus supports frequency based maintenance (encoding rules for ship items), condition based maintenance (through condition monitoring and trigger levels), and predictive maintenance (through predictive models of deterioration). Further a generalised probabilistic model of deterioration based on Gamma Processes and the expected hitting time was also implemented to allow simulation and cost comparison of different condition based maintenance strategies.

1.3.5.5. Corrosion sensor

Corrosion sensor based on electrochemical impedance method for continuous monitoring of the state of protective paint systems with regard to corrosion initiation. Corrosion sensors are a means to support non-destructive inspection techniques in case of difficult, dangerous or non-accessible areas, in order to control initiation of non-predictive corrosion defects in the protective systems. The continuous monitoring provides a new advanced flexible maintenance concept for ships and support to ship life-cycle management.

Potential Impact:
The results of the ThroughLife project underline the importance to change the perspective from short-term to a holistic lifecycle point of view to realise the cost savings potential of the investigated technologies. For example, the application of the composite river cruiser sundeck accounts significant higher investment costs, but based on the fuel savings substantial cost savings could be realised as pointed out by the performed lifecycle cost calculations.


The ThroughLife result also point out, that encouraging test results of a new technology are only the first step towards a successful market introduction. The combination with an appropriate business model is essential to overcome implementation barriers for new technologies like uncertainty in terms of reliability and cost calculation. In this regard, the developed ThroughLife business models show potential ways for a successful market introduction and raised the awareness of this context by the project partners and workshop participants.

However, the development of a full-scale composite sundeck prototype demonstrated to test technical properties lead to a better general acceptance of the new material, since the properties can be experienced by the stakeholder themselves. Moreover, a full-scale demonstrator every also as show case for potential customers and in the case of composite river cruiser sundeck there is specific customer interest for an actual implementation on a river cruiser in the near future, which could result in brighter acceptance and application of composite materials in the maritime industry.


Moreover, the investigated ways to cope with corrosion in ballast water tanks – the application of self-healing coating and the installation of the condition monitoring - provided first promising results, which underline the great potential to reduce the lifecycle costs. Therefore the ThroughLife results are the starting point for further research activities in this field.

The most promising anti-abrasive coating tested for the cargo space of hopper suction dredger has a high potential for an actual implementation on-board to reduce the lifecycle costs for the hopper suction dredger operator whereas the new building yard Uljanik will strengthen its market position in this business area.

1.4.2. Dissemination:

ThroughLife´s Dissemination strategy consists of various different dissemination activities:

 General publications
 Scientific publications
 Presentation on conferences
 Public website
 ThroughLife workshops

The total numbers of the different dissemination measures are summarised in the table below.


Dissemination type Number
Publications 15
Conference presentations 21
Links to other research projects 13
Links to external parties 35
Table 2: Total number of dissemination measures


Another important dissemination activity was the organisation of the overall nine ThroughLife workshops, which were held during the course of the project. Thereby the most important workshop form a dissemination point of view was the final workshop, which was held on March 26th, 2014 at “Forum Alte Werft” in Papenburg with more than 100 representatives of shipyards, ship operator, maritime equipment manufacturer, class societies and research institutes. Particular focus was put on the active involvement of the participants in order to discuss the potential impact of the ThroughLife results and to gain valuable feedback about the exploitation potential of the results and to identify further research needs. Moreover, the participants had the opportunity to investigate and discuss the different ThroughLife prototypes. Therefore, the self-healing coating and anti-abrasive coating were presented on different booths at the workshop. Finally the full-scale composite river cruiser sundeck prototype was visited and investigated.
The gained feedback of the different final workshop sessions were documented in graphic recordings and underlined the high exploitation potential of the ThroughLife results. As an additional outcome of the workshop discussions, further research needs have been identified.


1.4.3. Exploitation of the ThroughLife results

In the following section, the use of foregrounds the exploitation plans of every project partner are summarised:


BALance Technology Consulting:
- Further development of the Lifecycle performance assessment tool BAL.LCPA Tool based on the gained knowledge of the lifecycle performance assessment in ThroughLife.

- Development of the composite river cruiser sundeck towards the market introduction: Development from the idea to different design concepts to the final design to the production its consequences for the ship production process on a new building yard. Special focus was put on the lifecycle performance assessment of the different design concepts to support the decision making. Moreover marketing measures in terms of lifecycle performance assessment and real-life demonstrator to foster the actual market introduction are the main foregrounds in this area.

- Business models: Based on the feedback of the final workshop, the ship information file seems to be the most promising business model concept. BALance established a working group to develop the ship information file concept towards the market introduction after the ThroughLife project.


FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V
- For the corrosion monitoring system an extended data base is needed implementing as well environmental data from the operating conditions in order to better understand the interrelations.
- Self-healing coatings: Bi-/trilateral discussions with microcapsules manufacturers and coating companies are foreseen in order to undertake the next necessary steps towards development of a marketable product.
BMT GROUP LIMITED
- Lessons learned for implementation of holistic maintenance approach
- Business models for further research or in-house product development
BIBA - BREMER INSTITUT FUER PRODUKTION UND LOGISTIK GMBH:

- Transfer and further development of sensor knowledge to regional, national and European industries (e.g. Offshore Wind)
- Transfer of lessons learned in ThroughLife to generic concepts of condition-based and “preactive” maintenance; application of concepts to other industries
- Further work on basis of ThroughLife results for standardization of Life-Cycle data and models (e.g. contribution to marine industry lifecycle data models in the Quantum Lifecycle Management work group of the Open Group)
NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST
NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK – TNO:

- Fibre-Optic sensors will be investigated with respect to use on LNG containment systems.
- Steel designs / MMP will be further investigated with respect to use as building elements for LNG containment systems.
- Corrosion monitoring and coating degradation detection systems will be investigated with respect to application in e-inspection.
Safinah Limited
- Dissemination and adaptation of anti-abrasive coating benchmark
- Dissemination of the use of the new anti-abrasion test device to evaluate abrasion resistance of materials on a scale comparable with conditions experienced in the maritime industry.
- Further development and dissemination of developed sensors in projects that require in-situ condition monitoring over an extended period of time
- Dissemination of the self-healing model coating as potential technology to extend coating life and reduce corrosion onset.
MEYER WERFT GmbH:

- Further work on adaptation of sensor and maintenance framework for ships
- Adaptation of composite knowledge for application within the next generation of river-cruisers and SOLAS vessels
AALTO-KORKEAKOULUSAATIO

- Aalto University will use the information collected from metallic materials and corrosion in Master level courses of corrosion engineering. The studied steel grades are subject to further research in natural environments to evaluate their long-term corrosion rates.
- Corrosion monitoring research will continue using the idea of measuring galvanic currents between protected structure and sacrificial anodes.
SWEREA SICOMP AB:

- SICOMP will continue to work on the application of bio-composite into ships structures. The research will be done at the material and design level. The mechanical tests carried out during the project will be continued and the results used to refine the FE models for better optimization of the designs.
- SICOMP will implement the lessons learned from the composite designs studies to future designs. The knowledge of the obstacles to the designs of composite structures for ships will able SICOMP to provide designs to end-users/customers in a shorter time
D'APPOLONIA SPA:

- Technology transfer and knowledge dissemination, for instance with RINA: DAPP aims at making use of the results from the ThroughLife project mainly for providing consultancy services to clients in the maritime sectors. Moreover, since DAPP is very keen in Technology Transfer (for instance DAPP is the Italian Broker of the European Space Agency Technology Transfer Program – ESA TTP) the aim is to make use and transfer what implemented in ThroughLife with reference to condition monitoring to other transport modes and to different applications. As such DAPP aims at widely disseminate the results of the project by its national and international network raising on the worldwide network provide by RINA as well as within European technology platform (transport technology platform plus the European Construction Technology Platform - ECTP to name one) and various EU initiative (such as the initiative for the new generation of EU infrastructure – Refine, to name one outside the maritime sector).
- Further research are also foreseen in the integration of sensors (for instance fiber optic sensors) in materials and structures leveraging on past and on-going research at national and EU scale DAPP is involved. In this framework and based on the results of the FP6 EU project Polytect DAPP is looking forward to the integration of fiber optic sensors in composite structures so that to enable the application of composite materials, as a structural components , in various applications in the transport sector and in the construction industry, by monitoring their long-term behavior and performance as well as by keeping under control phenomena that can cause a fragile failure in composite materials when used as reinforcement layer.
Community of European Shipyards Associations asbl:

- Research gaps: input towards the next research calls and frameworks
ULJANIK BRODOGRADILISTE DD:

- Results of the Anti-abrasive protection technologies will be used for new design of vessels where applicable
- Continue the research on Anti abrasive coatings together with the ship-owner
CENTER OF MARITIME TECHNOLOGIES EV
- CMT will use the foregrounds from the Throughlife project for dissemination among its members on the one side (about 80 companies and research institutes, representing the major maritime industry in Germany) and for implementing the knowledge on technology within its European Network and projects on the other side. Here, especially the projects MESA and SMARTYARDS can be mentioned. For MESA, and also for national research agendas, the input from ThroughLife is beneficial especially with respect to the impact of some solutions as well as the need for further research in case of some technologies (e.g. corrosion sensor). In terms of SMARTYARDS, the network of small shipyards and suppliers will be used to transfer the foregrounds for further use. The same applies for the E-Lass network in terms of the lightweight solutions and the promotion of new materials for maritime applications.
- With respect to future research, CMT will use the foregrounds of ThroughLife to evaluate new ideas or the research for implementation on national or EU level. Here, CMT will not only be interested to be part of further research, but also be a multiplier towards research within the national German funding scheme for SMEs.

List of Websites:
The public website of the ThroughLife project is available under:

www.throughlife.eu


Figure 2: Screenshot of ThroughLife´s public website


The website is hosted by:

BALance Technology Consulting GmbH
Contrescarpe 33
28203 Bremen
www.bal.eu
Tel: 0049 421 33 517 0
Mail: Info@bal.eu

Technical contact:

Markus Elfgen
MEYER WERFT GmbH
Industriegebiet Süd
26871 Papenburg
Tel.: 04961 81-5356
Mail: markus.elfgen@meyerwerft.de