The National Shipbuilding Research Program. Proceedings of the REAPS Technical Symposium. Paper No. 7: The Avondale Pipe Shop: Hardware and Software Status
Abstract
Proceedings of the REAPS Technical Symposium. Paper No. 7: The Avondale Pipe Shop: Hardware and Software Status. Approximately five (5) years ago Avondale Shipyards in cooperation with the Maritime Administration developed a plan for a semi-automatic pipe fabricating facility. Our study has been conducted at our main pipe shop and utilized manual fitting, welding and burning as a base along with our original ship layout and flow diagram. We originally had a production capacity of 50 - 55 spool pieces per day with a complement of 76 people in this department. Basic changes which we have accomplished during this study, such as wire-feed welding in lieu of stick welding, provision of cutting station, installation of contour cutting machines and utilization of a limited amount of turning and manipulation equipment has increased our production to 60 - 65 spool pieces per day. During our investigation we made 42 onsite facility surveys. Nineteen foreign facilities and 23 domestic facilities were visited. We conferred with 26 equipment manufacturers and consultants. We maintained technical liason with 11 foreign and domestic shipyards. Initially the concept was determined, which established the fundamental equipment requirements necessary for inclusion in a semi-automatic pipe fabrication system. Utilizing the fundamental equipment requirement as a base we proceeded to investigate the design capability of existing equipment manufacturers. During this investigation, we determined that the equipment required would be listed in the three following catagories: 1. Existing 2. Existing, requiring modifications 3. Non-existing requiring the design and manufacture of a prototype. Upon conclusion of the feasibility study, we entered into a contract with the Maritime Administration. The primary objective is to design and install a cost effective and semi-automated method of fabricating pipe which will reduce the labor, material handling, storage space and required fabrication area.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA450523
Entities
People
- Harris F. Arnold