Mid-April
2005
Table
of Contents:
Pacific Northwest Section |
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Texas Section |
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Canadian Atlantic Section |
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Mid-April
2005
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Pacific
Northwest Section March 11, 2005 The March technical meeting took place at 3:45 PM on Friday, March 11, 2005. It began with a tour of the facilities of Delta Marine Industries at Seattle, WA. SNAME members Jay Miner and Dan Cole, both of Delta Marine, led the 25-members tour group through several large yachts in various stages of construction. Various design features and construction techniques were explained. The group also visited Delta’s state-of-the-art carpentry shop, as well as a new construction building that is under construction. The new building shall have sufficient space to finish two 150’ yachts under roof. The meeting continued at 6 PM with a dinner at the Red Lion Hotel in Tukwila, WA. Jay Miner, Chief Naval Architect of Delta Marine Industries, gave a presentation titled “Resin Infusion Process for Large Composite Yacht Construction.” The resin infusion process involves the delivery of the resin through engineered passages under a sealed membrane (or a ‘vacuum bag’). When done correctly, this process produces stronger parts with a 65/35 fiber-resin ratio as opposed to 50/50 by the conventional lay-up method. It is considered to be a zero emission process by the regulatory agencies and it also greatly improves the work environment in the shop.
Delta Marine has been in the forefront to employ the resin infusion process to produce large components. Vinyl ester resin with balsa core, E-glass or carbon fiber had been used successfully with this process to produce decks, bulkheads and coach roofs that weigh up to 12,000 lbs. The flow path of the resin must be carefully planned to assure even and proper distribution. Careful planning by engineering and production departments is critical to the success of each work piece. The actual ‘feed’ process for a large work piece could take up to 3 hours. The required volume of resin must be calculated and prepared in a single batch, while its temperature needs to be carefully controlled for the duration of the process. Delta Marine envisions producing entire hulls with the resin infusion process someday. To this end, in-house R&D, including full-scale tests, is ongoing. The presentation was followed by lively discussions.
Texas
Section March 8, 2005 As in many other states, Texas now requires Professional Development Hours (PDH) each year for Professional Engineers to renew their licenses. One of the PDH credits must focus on engineering ethics. In order to aid SNAME members working to fulfill this requirement, the Texas section held a breakfast seminar on March 8, 2005, to discuss engineering ethics. The course was led by Dr. Alan Rossiter, who has over 25 years of industry experience, and frequently gives lectures on ethics and other topics. The seminar included an overview of what exactly the Texas PDH requirements entail, as well as a discussion on the role ethics play in day-to-day engineering decisions. Active participation by all members capped off the course in a workshop format of case study review. For more information on the course, Dr. Rossiter can be contacted directly at alan@rossiters.org.
Canadian
Atlantic Section March 16, 2005 The
Canadian Atlantic Section met on March 16, 2005 for an oral presentation
provided by John Volc. The presentation was on “Fleet Modeling for
Marine Transportation Planning” and discussed the following: The economics associated with the interaction of various fleet assets is often addressed at a visceral level by those directly involved with operations. Unfortunately, the sheer bulk of data processed on a daily basis often makes the identification of underlying trends difficult to ascertain. Mathematical modeling of the fleet operations provides a method of uncovering these trends and furthermore provides a tool for future planning. For example, plans to reduce operating expenses can be tested by running various ‘what-if’ scenarios against established baselines and vessel scheduling can be tested prior to implementation. “Strategic” and “Tactical” model types are discussed with commentary and examples indicating the types of questions each are capable of answering.
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