Mid-November
2005
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New England Section |
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Northern California Section |
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Mid-November
2005
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New
England Section October 13, 2005 On October 13th, DRS Power Systems hosted the SNAME New England Section dinner, technical presentation and tour of the Permanent Magnet Motor (PMM) (developed to the propulsion requirements of the DD(X) destroyer). One of these massive motors would directly drive each of the two propellers on DD(X). The evening began with a social hour and buffet dinner at the Fay Club across the street from the DRS facility in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Various DRS personnel joined the Section for dinner and provided insight into the history of DRS and the work done in Fitchburg. After dinner, the group proceeded to the DRS offices for a presentation on the PMM program. Mr. Edward Bartlett, president of DRS Power Systems introduced Mr. James Hamel, the DRS DD(X) Program Manager, who led a detailed presentation on the design, development and testing of the PMM Engineering Development Model (which was built as a risk reduction tool during the developmental phase of the DD(X) program). Other presenters included Mr. Edgar Thaxton, the Chief Engineer on the motor, and George Awiszus, the Commercial Marine Products Manager. The presentation began with a discussion of the power distribution system required for an electric drive destroyer and was followed by a discussion of the features in the PMM design which provide very high power density as well as the required redundancy and reliability. The heart of the presentation was focused on the redesign necessitated by a stator segment failure that occurred during testing earlier this year. Samples of the original and redesigned stator winding were passed around for inspection. The PMM team is confident that the redesigned motor is significantly more robust and reliable than the original, and the test failure allowed them to make major improvements based on the data collected in the earlier testing. The presentation concluded with an investigation into other applications for the motor and a comparison of the weight and space requirements for modern electric drive systems versus more traditional diesel and gas turbine propulsion systems.
The highlight of the evening began at the conclusion of the presentation when the group proceeded downstairs to the lab to peer around and into the actual motor, which is nearly three stories tall when sitting on the test stand. The motor was awaiting installation of the final two rebuilt stator segments, but otherwise complete. Operation of the motor was demonstrated using a 500 hp version of the motor used to test the drive electronics and controls. At the conclusion of the technical presentation, Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Hamel were presented with a certificate of appreciation from the Section.
Northern
California Section November 9, 2005 Naval Engineering Division of the USCG Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific The Northern California Section of SNAME and the Golden Gate Section of ASNE met jointly at El Torito Restaurant, San Leandro, CA on November 9th. Attendees included 22 members and guests of the professional societies and 5 students from University of California, Berkeley and the California Maritime Academy. Captain Philip Sullivan, Chief of the Naval Engineering Division, USCG Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific, provided an overview of his division, which manages Hull, Mechanical and Electrical (HM&E) and Ordnance repairs, alterations and maintenance programs for all US Coast Guard cutters and standard boats in the Pacific Area. Captain Sullivan also discussed several of the Naval Engineering Division’s recent quality improvement initiatives for the management of cutter and icebreaker overhauls and rebuilds.
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