FIBRE composite manufacturing technologies FOR the automation and modular construction in shipYARDS

Project Information

FIBRE4YARDS

Grant agreement ID: 101006860

DOI

10.3030/101006860

Project closed

EC signature date 6 November 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 7 572 437,50

EU contribution

€ 5 941 720,01

Coordinated by

CENTRE INTERNACIONAL DE METODES NUMERICS EN ENGINYERIA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FIBRE4YARDS (FIBRE composite manufacturing technologies FOR the automation and modular construction in shipYARDS)

Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Today, Fibre-Reinforced Polymers (FRP) materials are extensively used for building lightweight hull structures of vessels with length up to about 25 m. FRP are also used for even larger lengths (up to 50 m). In fact, most of the leisure craft and sailing yachts, naval ships, patrol and rescue vessels below 25 m length are built in FRP materials.
However, the production capacity in numbers of FRP ships does not achieve its full potential due to high total production costs. One of the main reasons for this limitation is the lack of automated procedures, and the current semi-artisanal methods used in FRP shipbuilding.
In order to further expand the competitive position of the European shipbuilding industry, in particular small and medium size shipyards, it is essential to improve and optimise the production processes for FRP ship parts.
The main objective of the FIBRE4YARDS project was to maintain European global leadership in ship building and maintenance, through the implementation of the Shipyard 4.0 concept in which advanced and innovative manufacturing technologies are successfully introduced. FIBRE4YARDS implemented a cost-efficient, digitized, automated and modular vessel production approach.
FIBRE4YARDS focused on the entire value chain (shipyards and their ecosystem) cooperatively working on small and medium length fibre-based ships in a digital environment.
The main objective of the project was achieved by:
- Introducing smart and secure engineering, manufacturing and data sharing concepts in ship production.
- Embedding advanced and highly automated FRP production technologies in the Shipyard 4.0 while applying these technologies in ship production, maintenance and dismantling.
- Developing and validating new digitalized engineering and analysis simulation solutions to support modular ship design and construction in the Shipyard 4.0 concept.
- Facilitating industrial deployment of the FRP Shipyard 4.0 by providing guidelines for design, production, certification, and staff training.
- Developing business plans and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) strategies for shipyards.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The 13 partners of the consortium worked together to transfer, adapt and combine targeted advanced production technologies from other competitive industrial sectors into a Shipyard 4.0 environment. Real-scale demonstrators were designed and manufactured to prove the feasibility of the technologies developed in the project.
The main results of the FIBRE4YARDS project are the following:
- assessment and adaptation of advanced composite manufacturing technologies for the shipbuilding industry (out-of-die UV cured pultrusion, Automatic Tape Placement, 3D Printing, hot stamping, adaptive moulds);
- assessment and development of joining technologies and joining strategies for composites and hybrid materials within the shipbuilding industry
- development of acoustic control methodologies;
- development of specific numerical models in order to simulate composites with the developed technologies (constitutive model for thermoplastics, beam model for pultruded profiles, numerical model for 3D printed composites, numerical multi-model for composite connections);
- implementation of such numerical models in already existing CAE/FEM tools (TdynRamSeries), so that they can be incorporated among the vessels’ design and engineering tools;
- engineering and development of two modular vessel designs i.e. patrol motorboat and passenger catamaran;
- re-design and optimization of both vessel designs, in order to adapt their manufacturing to the advanced production methods addressed in the project;
- study and account for the mechanical performance of the connections between the different vessels’ modules.
- definition of the monitoring parameters for every manufacturing process of every technology provider;
- definition of the hardware part of the monitoring system, more specifically, selection of sensors and acquisition systems appropriate for each particular case;
- definition and development of an open source web-based IoT platform for monitoring in real-time of industrial assets and structures allowing the implementation of digital twins models;
- implementation of a cybersecurity component in the IoT platform for the digital twins;
- LCA analysis of advanced and innovative FRP manufacturing technologies developed in the project;
- assessment of the environmental impact over the entire life cycle of FRP ships;
- recommendations for optimal solutions of the environmentally friendly FRP production technology for the shipbuilding industry;
- production and testing of small-scale panel demonstrators (through static and fatigue tests);
- production of a real-scale demonstrator in the form of a technological showcase of the different technologies and processes developed in the project;
- qualification guidelines from design to manufacturing process to manage and improve the different steps of the life of the product;
- definition of business plans and roll-out strategies;
- cost-benefit analysis of zero, low, medium and high automation scenarios, both in the cases of small-medium sized shipyards with subcontractors and large shipyards.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In order to define a new generation of 4.0 shipyards, FIBRE4YARDS advanced the different technologies and processes beyond the state of the art:
- development of monitoring strategies to obtain required data for continuous quality control and factory maintenance;
- development of a Digital Twin Model of the shipyard which, based on the continuous monitoring and the Internet of Things (IoT), controls the different production and maintenance processes.
- implementation of the Shipyard 4.0 concept improving production and maintenance processes;
- definition of cyber-security measures in the Shipyard 4.0 environment.

FIBRE4YARDS aims to achieve the following impacts:
- competitiveness and growth for European small and medium shipyards with implementation of the Shipyard 4.0 concept;
- improved employment and skills of European workforce thanks to advanced manufacturing procedures;
- improved environmental performance by FRP ships manufactured with advanced production procedures using less material more efficiently, reducing significantly the ship’s weight;
- multiplication effect within Europe by developments made towards Shipyard 4.0 easily adapted to other shipyards besides the ones directly involved in the project, spreading the results easily;
- maximized EU-added value by minimizing technology leakage, business plans and protection strategies for the IPR generated in the project.

FIBRE4YARDS project logo