Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CoPropel (Composite material technology for next-generation Marine Vessel Propellers.)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-06-01 al 2023-11-30
Marine propellers, a complex and important structural part of large ships, have traditionally been made off expensive Nickel-Aluminium-Bronze (NAB) or Manganese-Aluminium-Bronze (MAB) alloys in order to operate under high cyclic loading underwater and withstand high stresses due to cavitation phenomena. These propellers require precision machining, long production times and are very heavy to transport.
All the above results in propeller prices that are typically in the hundreds of thousands of euros and long lead times that can result in ships being stranded (for example, after an accident where the propeller is lost and requires replacement). This provides a challenge for small and medium-sized shipyards where ships can be alongside awaiting parts, tying up valuable space in the yards, or require the yards to hold stock of replacement parts to ensure quick turnaround of vessels. The process of changing the propeller, or even individual blades of NAB or MAB propellers, requires either a dry-dock to remove and replace the propeller or a specially trained group of divers to replace blades manually underwater. Besides, several issues have been identified with the current NAB/MAB propellers, including vibration, electric signature, and excess of weight.
CoPropel puts forth a holistic approach in the shipping industry by introducing a composite marine propeller offering corrosion resistance, lightweight, tailored material properties, and acoustic properties. The CoPropel consortium seeks to contribute to the optimisation of propulsion systems by developing and maturing technologies for the realisation of marine propellers made of advanced composite materials. Compared to their traditional counterparts, marine composite propellers are more ‘quiet’, ‘lightweight’ and ‘highly efficient’. CoPropel will achieve its ambitious goals by fulfilling the following objectives.
1. Design a large-scale composite marine propeller utilising methodologies and composite materials.
2. Optimise the manufacturing process for the fabrication of the composite propeller based on closed mould resin infusion techniques.
3. Develop a condition and structural health monitoring system that will be embedded within the propeller.
4. Validation of the composite propeller.
5. Assist in the formulation of new guidelines regarding the use of composite materials at the propeller.
6. Communication and Dissemination of the project outcomes – open science-related objective.
7. Define roll out strategy and develop a business plan.
Project pathways to Impact
In order to promote the competitiveness of the European industry, the CoPropel project proposes innovations in the use of composite materials and the adoption of sensorised structures for future marine applications. Composite materials are gaining significant relevance in different industries and sectors due to performance benefits over traditional materials. The industry and researchers are making substantial efforts toward innovations and product development to broaden the scope of composite materials across varying applications. Following this path, the CoPropel project attempts to produce a set of potential impacts in the short-term, mid-term and long-term. Although the expected impacts are related to technical achievements and business opportunities for the maritime stakeholders, others such as socio-economic impacts are foreseen:
- Overcome the limitations of composite materials in the maritime industry by proposing innovations in design, shipbuilding and life cycle management.
- Generate a new EU-market and regulatory framework to build complex marine propulsion components in composite materials enabling a new sector in the shipbuilding industry.
- Obtain relevant advances beyond the traditional methods of composite-based vessel design and production, allowing the exploitation of new solutions and procedures in the existing market.
- Enhance the competitiveness of the European shipbuilding industry and take advantage of the existing companies which are providing solutions of composite materials to other sectors such as aeronautic, automotive and wind energy, among others.
- Maintain the European leadership position in high added-value vessel design and shipbuilding industry.
- Improvement in vessels’ safety conditions to novel inspection and maintenance concepts. Develop long-term damage control and health monitoring systems for vessels.
- Reduce the environmental impact of the maritime industry, complying with the European environmental policies regarding Gas Emissions (Directive 2012/33/EU) and Underwater Noise Impact (Directive 2008/56/EU).
All the above results in propeller prices that are typically in the hundreds of thousands of euros and long lead times that can result in ships being stranded (for example, after an accident where the propeller is lost and requires replacement). This provides a challenge for small and medium-sized shipyards where ships can be alongside awaiting parts, tying up valuable space in the yards, or require the yards to hold stock of replacement parts to ensure quick turnaround of vessels. The process of changing the propeller, or even individual blades of NAB or MAB propellers, requires either a dry-dock to remove and replace the propeller or a specially trained group of divers to replace blades manually underwater. Besides, several issues have been identified with the current NAB/MAB propellers, including vibration, electric signature, and excess of weight.
CoPropel puts forth a holistic approach in the shipping industry by introducing a composite marine propeller offering corrosion resistance, lightweight, tailored material properties, and acoustic properties. The CoPropel consortium seeks to contribute to the optimisation of propulsion systems by developing and maturing technologies for the realisation of marine propellers made of advanced composite materials. Compared to their traditional counterparts, marine composite propellers are more ‘quiet’, ‘lightweight’ and ‘highly efficient’. CoPropel will achieve its ambitious goals by fulfilling the following objectives.
1. Design a large-scale composite marine propeller utilising methodologies and composite materials.
2. Optimise the manufacturing process for the fabrication of the composite propeller based on closed mould resin infusion techniques.
3. Develop a condition and structural health monitoring system that will be embedded within the propeller.
4. Validation of the composite propeller.
5. Assist in the formulation of new guidelines regarding the use of composite materials at the propeller.
6. Communication and Dissemination of the project outcomes – open science-related objective.
7. Define roll out strategy and develop a business plan.
Project pathways to Impact
In order to promote the competitiveness of the European industry, the CoPropel project proposes innovations in the use of composite materials and the adoption of sensorised structures for future marine applications. Composite materials are gaining significant relevance in different industries and sectors due to performance benefits over traditional materials. The industry and researchers are making substantial efforts toward innovations and product development to broaden the scope of composite materials across varying applications. Following this path, the CoPropel project attempts to produce a set of potential impacts in the short-term, mid-term and long-term. Although the expected impacts are related to technical achievements and business opportunities for the maritime stakeholders, others such as socio-economic impacts are foreseen:
- Overcome the limitations of composite materials in the maritime industry by proposing innovations in design, shipbuilding and life cycle management.
- Generate a new EU-market and regulatory framework to build complex marine propulsion components in composite materials enabling a new sector in the shipbuilding industry.
- Obtain relevant advances beyond the traditional methods of composite-based vessel design and production, allowing the exploitation of new solutions and procedures in the existing market.
- Enhance the competitiveness of the European shipbuilding industry and take advantage of the existing companies which are providing solutions of composite materials to other sectors such as aeronautic, automotive and wind energy, among others.
- Maintain the European leadership position in high added-value vessel design and shipbuilding industry.
- Improvement in vessels’ safety conditions to novel inspection and maintenance concepts. Develop long-term damage control and health monitoring systems for vessels.
- Reduce the environmental impact of the maritime industry, complying with the European environmental policies regarding Gas Emissions (Directive 2012/33/EU) and Underwater Noise Impact (Directive 2008/56/EU).
The consortium of CoPropel will realise the development of a composite marine propeller featuring a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system. Technical implementation focuses on designing a shape adaptive propeller and manufacturing it initially at a small scale to de-risk all the process steps. CoPropel partners have completed the design process of the composite propeller at small-scale and are now progressing with its manufacturing process. The design and realisation of the SHM system have also been completed and integration aspects in the composite material have been assessed at a coupon level. The testing campaign of the project at coupon scale, small scale and large-scale demonstration levels has also been selected. LCA efforts are undergoing for the whole lifecycle of the composite deformable propellers.
A state-of-the-art and gap analysis study has been performed within CoPropel to identify all possible results with high impact potential to the EU landscape. The results of this study can be seen in the public deliverable D1.1.