Automated Forming Outputs for Compound Curvature
Authors: Roberts Patrick Dean , Naro-Norman Scott 
Published: October 2024

Many shipyards and fabricators have equipment supporting complex compound curve forming, which contain many manual processes where mistakes can occur through looking up data and interpreting data. When an error occurs, it is not immediately noticed and causes significant negative schedule impacts as well as costly production rework.

The Nieland press is once such piece of equipment, it is an efficient and useful tool many shipyards and fabricators use to form compound curves and shape in plate. The Nieland press, like many presses of this type, are operated by an individual who uses a graphical representation of the structure and several tables. One table provides information about the amount elongation per each designated location on the plate. The operator manually positions the plate on the press using the graphical representation. The operator then uses the elongation value from the table for that specific location and adjusts the equipment pressure. The operator must search for the proper equipment pressure settings using another table specific to the material type, material thickness, and elongation value. This additional equipment pressure table has equipment pressure settings noted for a specific plate thickness and the required elongation. The current process is highly inefficient and plagued with the potential for numerous human induced errors.

This paper will examine the results of a National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) Rapid Adoption Project (RAP) that will showcase to provide a fully functional integrated application that automates the press operator’s information workflow to create compound curves on structural plates to the greatest degree of efficiency possible. The paper will review the results that are derived in providing the press operator with equipment pressure settings at each location of the plate, depending upon the operator’s specified grid value, so the operator needs to only be concerned with positioning the plate. This paper will provide insight into the information needed for a comprehensive document to suit the operators’ requirements. In effort to help the operator position the plate, this paper will show the process required to provide a grid with pressure setting information etched on to the plate when it is cut. Currently any grid is manually laid out that further allows for potential errors. This share images of the pressure grid which will detail each specific point on the plate where the press will be positioned.

The paper will report on the equipment operator’s use cases to develop the workflow automation using an application that will access existing digital data from the 3D design model and the equipment pressure setting tables to produce a document to satisfy the operator’s requirements. Additionally, the same application process will provide relevant data back to the 3D design model so it can be etched on the plate during the nesting, lofting, and cutting process.

This paper will also outline the benefits in saving schedule time from the operator not having to interpret tables for elongation and pressure setting at each point, rework from an interpretation error, and software cost from using current non-integrated standalone applications that still require manual interpretation. Savings in reduction of potential rework (material, labor, schedule) from the operator having to manually perform so much analysis from various documents, are ones that this paper will also publish the results from using automated / existing digital data from the 3D model. Additionally, first time quality will be reviewed showcasing further cost savings from the reduction of rework labor and production schedule delays.