American Bureau Of Shipping Research Articles

Analysis and Evaluation of Artificial Lighting in the Passenger Spaces of a 500 Gt Ro-Ro Ferry

Lighting is an important design criterion for ships, including the ro-ro ferry. The ship’s lighting system must meet certain standards. Therefore, the present study analysed and evaluated the artificial lighting of an Indonesian ro-ro ferry. The analysed ship in the present research was a 500 GT ro-ro ferry named KMP. Takabonerate that operated across the Selayar Islands of Indonesia. The artificial lighting systems in this ship’s three passenger spaces, which are reclining seat room, sofa seat room, and passenger open space, were evaluated and analysed. The main parameter to be investigated was the room illuminance produced by the ship’s lighting system. In order to achieve the study objective, the illuminance in those rooms was calculated using analytical formulas. The calculation results were validated using direct measurements and computer simulation. The direct measurements were conducted using a luxmeter, while computer simulations were performed using DIAlux Evo 10.0 software. With this software, the artificial lighting in the passenger spaces was also simulated and realistically visualized. The research results showed that the illuminance in the reclining seat room and the sofa seat room had met the minimum illuminance value set by the Indonesian National Standard (SNI), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and Indonesian Classification Bureau (BKI) standards. For the passenger open space, a re-arrangement of the lighting system was conducted to improve the light distribution so that all space illumination can meet the specified standards.

Technology Focus: Offshore Facilities (September 2024)

Offshore wind power involves generating electricity from wind farms located at sea. Because wind speeds are generally higher offshore than on land, these farms produce more electricity for the same amount of installed capacity. Both wind and solar energy are renewable and do not emit carbon, which helps reduce dependence on fossil fuels such as oil and gas. The papers synopsized in this year’s Offshore Facilities feature cover a breadth of related subjects that will be critical to the future of the industry. Automation in the offshore oil and gas industry makes production safer, faster, and more efficient. It reduces human error, improves quality control, and allows real-time monitoring of operations. Machine learning improves offshore industries by enhancing safety, efficiency, and sustainability It tracks and predicts environmental changes, such as oil spills or marine life patterns, aiding in better environmental management and response. Remotely operated vehicles are used in offshore operations to inspect, maintain, and repair underwater infrastructure; the offshore industry uses 3D video imaging technology to provide detailed real-time images of the underwater environment. Corrosion in offshore environments occurs because of factors such as seawater, sea salts, temperature, salinity, and moisture. It is crucial to monitor corrosion because it can lead to major structural failures. Hydrogen can be produced offshore using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, which do not emit greenhouse gases and help combat climate change. Supply-chain logistics boost efficiency by cutting costs, removing unnecessary steps, and speeding up product delivery. An efficient supply chain can lead to higher revenue, lower operational costs, and better overall performance. Decommissioning is the final stage of an oil or gas project and involves significant technical, economic, social, and environmental challenges. It is a lengthy, costly, and complex process that must be carefully planned and managed to avoid serious problems. Several ideas have come to the surface that show innovative ways to repurpose a decommissioned platform or ways to cut the cost of decommissioning. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 217706 Dynamic Simulation of Riser-Gas Handling With a Fixed-Choke Constant Outflow by Zhaoguang Yuan, SLB, et al. OTC 35092 Reducing Carbon Footprint by Using Fiber-Reinforced Polymers in FPSOs by S. Eves, NOV, et al. OTC 35393 Challenges and Approaches to Solutions for Green Decommissioning and Recycling of Offshore Facilities by Carlos Alberto Machado, American Bureau of Shipping, et al.

Experimental Characterization of Stiffness of a Polyester Mooring Rope for a CFPSO

Synthetic ropes are increasingly favored for use in offshore systems. Accurate predictions of the coupled hydrodynamic performance and structural response of offshore structures depends on a thorough understanding of the nonlinear characteristics of fiber materials. The objective of this study is to experimentally characterize the stiffness of a polyester mooring rope for a cylindrical floating production storage and offloading system. The quasi-static stiffness of the ropes and aged ropes after installation and the dynamic stiffness in various loading conditions were computed based on sub-rope tests following the guidelines from the American Bureau of Shipping. The quasi-static stiffness curves exhibited a linear decrease in values as the logarithm of the loading period (in minutes) increased. The dynamic stiffness was, in general, much higher than the quasi-static stiffness. The dynamic stiffness under various loading conditions revealed the complexities of the mechanical properties of polyester rope. Parameters such as the mean load, load amplitude, loading period, and loading cycles all had a notable impact. More tests are required to have a better understanding of their effects.

Experiments on Gas-Metal-Arc Welding (MAG) with Combined Spin-Arc and Weaving Facilities, for Interdisciplinary Applications

The article presents experiments for the development of the welding technology for plates of the steel S355JR, according to EN 10025-2:2004, for ship building and harbor structures.Marine steel plate grades for ship hull, according to ABS, American Bureau of Shipping, are presented, compared with the S355JR steel.For applications on board ships, the standard EN ISO 5778:1998 is also mentioned. It specifies the materials and quality levels for small weathertight steel hatches.The filler metal is the copper-coated, manganese-silicon-alloyed solid wire, type SG-3, according to EN ISO 14341:2020. The shielding gas is the gas mixture CORGON 18/82, according to EN ISO 14175:2008, type M21.As a welding travel unit, the modular drive system MDS-1, made by the company BUG-O Systems, of USA was used. It has the following main components: 1- rack-based track; 2- carriage; 3- master drive unit; 4- clutch; 5- weaver control module; 6- linear weaver unit; 7- linear weaver cross arm; 8- gun mounting group; 9- welding gun.The welding source is the Inverter MIG 300 A type, manufactured by Mahe GmbH, Germany.The sizes of the two plates for the welding test piece are: length 700 mm; width 200 mm; thickness 15 mm, I groove with 8 mm gap.The welding parameters used for all the layers (root, fill #1 - fill #4) are presented in a common table, for comparison.The parameter ranges are as follows: welding current 177-251 A; welding voltage 21.9-23.1 V; wire advance speed 6.5-7.2 m/min; shielding gas flow rate 20.8-21.8 liters/min; welding speed 20-45 cm/min. A special spin-arc welding method was applied on all weld layers. The execution of the welding test piece is described with specific details and photos.Upon visual inspection after the execution of each layer, the appearance is adequate. No defects or imperfections are observed.On ultrasonic examination, the results are adequate.Metallographic examination, tensile, bending and Charpy V impact tests are presented with appropriate results.The conclusions mention the adequate results obtained, regarding the ranges of the welding parameters and the use of the innovative spin-arc technology. Possible applications of the S355JR steel are recommended.The references present titles related to ship building steels, filler metal, shielding gas, welding equipment and some specific technologies.

Fatigue Life Analysis on The Local Construction Near the Chain Stopper Area of Papa Terminal Floating Storage Offloading (FSO) With 4X2 Chain Line Spread Mooring Configuration

This research aims to determine the fatigue life of the structure near the chain stopper of a storage tanker using the spectral fatigue analysis method. The wave spectrum is developed based on six significant wave height and period variations from the site wave scatter data using a modified spectrum of JONSWAP. The stress analysis is carried out using finite element analysis software. It can then be processed into Stress RAO from each loading direction. The response spectra are generated from the wave spectrum, multiplying with the square of the Stress RAO. These response spectra will determine the stochastic values of each stress range variation in obtaining the number of cycles that occur in each variation (nL). The accumulation of each ratio obtained from all existing variations will produce a fatigue index value (D). The American Bureau of Shipping’s S-N curve D-Class is used in this fatigue life analysis. The Gamkonora Aframax tanker operated as a temporary storage tanker at Papa’s field area is used as the case of this study.

Ultimate Shear Strength of Pitted Plates with Crack Using Finite Element Method

_ Ultimate strength of thin steel plates was studied under shear loading when pitting corrosion and cracking occur simultaneously. Nonlinear finite element method was used and the effects of different geometrical parameters, such as crack position, crack length, pit depth, pit diameter, number of the pits, and the inclination angle of the crack, were investigated. It was found that the degree of the pitting (DOP) significantly reduces the ultimate shear strength of the pitted plates when the corrosion is low. For high amount of corrosion, the reduction of the ultimate shear strength remains the same regardless of the amount of the DOP. In plates with short cracks, the crack length has no influence on the reduction of the ultimate shear strength. Also, it was found that the position of the crack is more effective than the length of the crack on the reduction of the ultimate shear strength of the cracked plates. In the cracked-pitted plates, there was no interaction between crack and pit for extremes value of DOP. For low value of DOP, the ultimate shear strength of the cracked-pitted plate was the same as the cracked plate, and for large value of DOP, it is the same as pitted plate. Introduction According to a study performed between 2002 and 2008 by American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) (“Review of Current Practices of Fracture” 2012), majority of reported fractures of the ships were structural failures, such as weld defect, buckling, fracture, and cracking. Cracks and corrosion are two more common defects, which are the main reasons of the failure of the aged steel structures. Plates and stiffened plates are the main structural elements in many structures, including airplanes, bridges, offshore structures, and ships. Ultimate strength evaluation of these structural elements is crucial for rational design of structures, such as Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) methods in civil engineering and Ultimate Strength (UTS) evaluation in ship structure. Many studies are carried out to evaluate ultimate strength of intact and damaged plates/ stiffened plates under in-plane compressive stress. Ranji (2012) studied ultimate strength of plate with general corrosion under in-plane compression. He proposed a spectrum for random generation of corroded surface and ultimate strength of corroded plate was evaluated using computer code ANSYS. Ranji and Zarookian (2015) analyzed ultimate strength of cracked stiffened plates with cracks having different stiffeners numerically.

Profiles of Two JOMAE Associate Editors (The Fifth in a Continuing Series)

Profiles of Two JOMAE Associate Editors (The Fifth in a Continuing Series)

Technology Focus: Subsea Systems (August 2022)

As goes the offshore market in general, so follows the subsea arena, and both are experiencing an upturn because of an increase in commodity prices and the potential that offers to operators focused on optimizing existing assets. In current offshore operations—with an emphasis on environmental, social, and governance performance—subsea has an increasingly important role to play. Subsea tiebacks in particular offer opportunities to increase asset productivity while minimizing environmental impact on an incremental production-per-barrel basis. With that in mind, the papers selected provide an overview of interest and immediate relevance to SPE members and JPT readers, regardless of where those operations are taking place. Some of the longstanding issues currently of greatest concern are the jumping-off point for a review intended to focus on optimizing subsea developments. Speed of asset delivery, system reliability, data and information management, and project repeatability are the general wish list for subsea engineers looking to improve efficiency, and all are covered in the papers presented. Within the industry, the push for a standard approach—not so much with hardware and components but more so with overall subsea project management—is a high priority. Additionally, building on the learnings from mature subsea areas pushes development with a focus on subsea reliability, increasing the global nature of these challenges yet maintaining a specific focus on local issues. Finally, with a nod to the future, the electrification and automation of subsea assets is presented, the intention being that the industry is ready to combine state-of-the-art system and project management with cutting-edge technology to fully deliver on the potential of subsea. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. OTC 32010 - Novel Concept Approval and Technology Qualification of Systems and Vessels for Deep‑Sea Extraction of Polymetallic Nodules by Tyson Breedlove, American Bureau of Shipping, et al. OTC 32028 - Key Technology Qualification of a Full‑Scale Subsea Chemical Storage and Injection System by Art J. Schroeder, Subsea Shuttle, et al. OTC 32100 - Unlocking Resident Underwater Inspection Drones or Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Subsea Autonomous Inspection: Value Creation Between Technical Requirements and Technological Development by Matteo Mattioli, Saipem, et al.

Fire-resistant composite handrails

Simon Eves from Fibreglass Systems, David Filho of MODEC Servicos de Petroleo do Brasil Ltda, Ivson Soares from the American Bureau of Shipping and Petrobras’ Claudio Jarreta describe the implementation of a standard for fire resistant handrails in offshore applications.

Long-term marine immersion corrosion of welded ABS grade steels

ABSTRACT Welded Joints long-term integrity is of particular importance to large vessels, such as frigates or bulk carriers. Downtime due to corrosion concerns can be onerous. Ship classification organisations, such as The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), standardises processes and product approval programmes for materials manufacturers. High-strength steels are of particular interest due to their high strength to cost ratio for large marine vessel construction. The corrosion performance of such steels has been studied, but data on the specific degradation of such metals when welded and for the welds themselves are scarce. The present paper reports marine immersion corrosion pit depth data for several ABS steel grade weld permutations and exposed to different sites for up to 2.5 years. The implications of the presented results are discussed as well as the possible influence of alloying elements and microstructural differences on the underlying corrosion kinetics.

Deploying battery technology for marine vessel electrification

The application of battery power systems has increased in the marine and offshore industry. Most uses are targeted toward reducing the fuel consumption or wholly electrifying the surface vessel. The types of ships that used battery power systems are reviewed, and the design and challenges of using lithium-ion batteries are discussed. The trend of customizing the battery power system in containerized form is explored in this article. The use of a lithium battery onboard the vessel needs to follow certain standards from an international accredited classification society, such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), which are briefly discussed.

Using Onboard-Produced Drinking Water to Achieve Ballast-Free Management

Based on the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (the Ballast Water Management Convention, or BWM Convention) of the International Maritime Organization, from 8 September 2017, all ships must have an approved Ballast Water Management Treatment System (BWTS) to prevent the invasion of alien species through the discharge of ballast. Generally speaking, the need for an approved BWTS is limited to large vessels, as they are too large or too expensive for small vessels to install. This study aims to propose a simple ballast-free approach for small vessels (e.g., tugs, workboats, research vessels) that require ballast to compensate for the weight loss of fuel when sailing. Our approach involves refitting the dedicated ballast tank of these small vessels to be drinking water tanks and filling the tanks with onboard-generated distilled or reverse osmosis water to adjust the stability of the ships. We assessed our approach using three vessels. Two ships using our proposed method were certified by the American Bureau of Shipping as containing no ballast water tank, and not being subject to the BWM Convention. This study provides an environmentally harmless, easy to use, and economical approach for small vessels to comply with the BWM Convention.

Evaluation of Tabular Leg Structure of Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) Life Extension using Condition Assessment Method

A Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) is any type of portable structure that can be reused when procuring oil and gas from the seabed. There are few reasons why MOPU is chosen over the conventional fixed offshore platforms, mainly due to its ability to be installed and relocated in a short period, low installation, and abandonment cost, and providing adequate time to evaluate new reservoirs properly. In certain circumstances, MOPU may be required to remain at the same location for a more extended period beyond its designed life. This paper explains the method of life extension (LE) assessment to extend the useful life of the MOPU. A MOPU with a three-legged jack-up rig in cruciform shape designed and constructed based on the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Classification requirement with a design life of 5 years, which currently in laid-up mode after 14 years in operation. The legs will be the focus of the condition assessment for the LE of the MOPU. The MOPU was constructed with 3 tabular legs with each 92200 mm length, 3500 mm diameter, and 55 mm thickness operate under tensile and shear stress, standing with simply supported at the one-end with hull hanged at the tabular using jacking-pin at the equal elevation of 77,600 mm. The method of assessment used is Non-destructive Tests (NDT). No severe defects or cracks were recorded at the identified stress concentration points. All NDT measurements were found within the acceptable ranges with no recorded anomalies.

Potential -flow and CFD investigations of bow-flare slamming on a container ship in regular heading waves

This study numerically and experimentally investigates the ship motions and slamming pressures of a 10,000 TEU container ship in regular heading waves. A modified Stavovy–Chuang model that considers the influence of the wave–ship encounter time and asymmetric rolling motions is proposed as the potential-flow method to solve symmetric and asymmetric flare slamming calculations. Instantaneous ship motions from a nonlinear six degree of freedom unified model are adopted to simulate the pressure. The ship flare–wave encounter time determines the duration of the slamming. The commercial software STAR CCM+ is utilised for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the slamming and motions. The modified Stavovy–Chuang model, CFD technology, and segmented model tests are used for the first time to predict asymmetric slamming accompanied by parametric rolling. Empirical formulas for various classification society rules are adopted for the cross-validation of the symmetric impact forces. In conclusion, the occurrence of slamming is dominated by the normal impact velocity and the relative positions of the ship and waves. The duration of the slamming, especially under parametric rolling conditions, mainly depends on the rolling period and encountering wave. Under parametric rolling conditions, the magnitude of the slamming pressure decreases and the impact duration increases as the wavelength increases. In simulations of symmetric slamming, only the duration increases as the wavelength increases, and the American Bureau of Shipping and International Association of Classification Societies results are similar to the test results.

Stress and stiffness analysis of a 7-teeth pinion/rack jacking system of an Offshore jack-up rig

In offshore mobile jack-up rig, platforms are generally supported by movable jacking system in which strength of rack and pinion are very crucial in determining the design life of the superstructure. In this study, a series of finite element (FE) models has been developed and analysed for a 7-teeth pinion with rack to investigate the strength, stiffness and fatigue life of the jacking system before its practical application in an offshore rig. Since rack/pinion contact patterns change with the rotation of the shaft, FE models are developed for each 10-degree rotations starting from 0 to 50 degree where elasto-plastic properties of both rack and pinion are considered in the FE analyses. A geometric analysis is also performed to determine shape and contact position between the rack and pinion at different angle of rotation. Finite element analyses are conducted for worst possible load cases of the jacking system including self-weight of the platform, wind load, hydrodynamics force as per American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) guideline. The stress distribution of the pinion shows that maximum stress occurs at the root of the tooth, mainly due to bending effect resulting from external torque. The FE analysis reveals that maximum von mises stress of pinion and rack are found to be 1105 MPa and 688 MPa, respectively which are very close to the corresponding strength of the materials. The FE results are validated with the established Lewis formula and American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) guideline. Considering the design life of the offshore platform, fatigue performance of the pinion is investigated for different operational loading of the platform. A separate 3D FE model has been developed to check the stiffness of the gear box that actually presents the serviceability of shaft beam and pinion teeth. In the stiffness analysis, the maximum deflection of the beam and individual tooth are found to be 1.2 mm and 2.1 mm, respectively. The outcome of this study is expected to contribute in designing future rack/pinion system for offshore jack-up rigs and similar other structures.

Criticality Assessment for Marine Diesel Engine Using Failure Mode and Effect Criticality Analysis (FMECA) Approach: Case Study on Lubricating Oil System

A marine diesel engine is widely used as prime movers on ships. In order to ensure that the diesel engine works properly, one of the considerations is the condition of the equipment on a supporting system. The equipment should have high reliability, availability, and good performance conditions. The purpose of this research is to assess the criticality of equipment on main engine supporting system, case study on lubricating oil systems. Criticality assessment is used to determine priorities and maintenance actions in maintaining condition of the assets. Maintenance is important to ensure that the condition of the lubrication system is working properly. The proposed method for analyzing is based on the Failure Mode and Effect Criticality Analysis (FMECA) approach using the criticality matrix on American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Classification. The risk analysis approach has used risk matrix as the basis for plotting criticality from the results of the probability and consequences analysis. The level of criticality is categorized into low, medium, and high risk. Furthermore, the results of FMECA analysis have found out 99 failure mode that caused the equipment of lubricating oil system to fail. The failure modes are categorized into three levels of criticality, low risk 24%, medium risk 64%, and high risk 12%. Based on the highest critical failure mode from a total of 23 equipments, 6 equipments are categorized as low risk, 13 equipments are categorized as medium risk, and 4 equipments are categorized as high risk.

Study of typhoon impacts on the foundation design of offshore wind turbines in Taiwan

Taiwan is hit by an annual average of three to four typhoons with different intensities and routes. To consider the impacts of typhoon events on offshore substructure design, the historical metocean data for storm event-based frequency analysis are generally applied. However, whether a supertyphoon passes directly over an offshore wind farm has a great influence on the results of frequency analysis. Therefore, the American Bureau of Shipping has recently increased the return period of hydrodynamic loads from 50 to 100 years to address the higher variation in the severity of extreme storms in typhoon-prone offshore regions. In this paper, to assess the impacts of the increase in the return period (from 50 to 100 years) on the design of offshore substructures, case studies of different types of substructures (i.e. monopile, three-leg jacket and four-leg jacket) with different water depths were conducted for the offshore wind farms off the coast of Changhua County in central Taiwan. The quantitative differences in foundation design are presented by way of a comparison of substructure weights, overturning moments and pile lengths. The preliminary results of the case studies show that the monopile design is more obviously dominated by earthquakes than by typhoons and the jacket-type foundation is more significantly dominated by typhoons.

A Study of the Effect of Post-Heating Pulse on Hot Cracking Susceptibility in Pulsed Laser Welding of Invar Alloy

Hot cracking is one of the major challenges in laser welding of Invar alloy. In this study, welding hot cracking susceptibility experiments are conducted with fish-bone-type Invar alloy sheets under pulsed laser welding condition. The pulse wave consists of two distinct power levels: welding pulse and post-heating pulse. The welding temperature field can be controlled by changing the duration of the post-heating pulse. The results of experimental measurements and finite element method calculation show that increasing of the post-heating pulse duration leads to a decline in the cooling rate of weld metal within the brittle temperature range, although the welding hot cracking susceptibility decreases at first and then increases. Neither the heat input nor the cooling rate is the only decisive factor for hot cracking during the welding process. 1. Introduction Invar alloy is widely applied in precision measurement devices and low-temperature-resistant structures for its low linear expansion coefficient at ambient temperature, which is less than 1.6 × 10—6 k—1, about 1/10 of the low carbon steel, and it changes very little within a large temperature range (Corbacho et al. 1998; Park et al. 2011; Zhao et al. 2015; Qiu et al. 2016). With the increase in demand for natural gas, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier has been developed rapidly as a means of long-distance transport. The material of primary and secondary barriers on the containment insulation system of membrane-type LNG carrier is welded Invar alloy with a thickness of .7 mm, which directly contacts the — 163°C LNG (American Bureau of Shipping 2006; Bureau Veritas 2011; Wang et al. 2006). The total weld length of Invar alloy on an LNG carrier over 13 million cubic meters can reach up to 100 km according to statistics. Hot cracking is the major problem in the welding of Invar alloy, and currently Tungsten inert gas (TIG) arc welding is commonly used. However, the problem of hot cracking cannot be solved completely, and requires that the operator have good technical knowledge. Invar alloy has high hot cracking susceptibility during the welding process because of its single-phase austenite structure and high content of Ni (Kou 2003). Studies show that the welding hot cracking susceptibility of Invar alloy can be reduced when elements such as Ti, Mn, and Mo are added (Hirata et al. 2001), but these alloying elements will increase the linear expansion coefficient of the weld, resulting in the deterioration of mechanical properties at low temperature. Thus, laser welding and friction stir welding are proposed by researchers to solve the welding hot cracking problem of Invar alloy from the aspect of reducing welding heat input.

An automated computational tool for offshore supply vessels’ structural preliminary design

This work presents the application of the rules of the Classification Society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for steel vessels in a development of an Excel computational tool that allows to speed up the preliminary structural design calculation process, from several days to minutes, with no precision loss, based on the main particulars and a few structural characteristics, automating everything that does not depend on decision-making. This tool is intended to be a first of a few to perform the required calculations for the preliminary structural design, in this case, applied to Offshore Support Vessels. Once the frame type, the selection of the commercial steel type, and manufacturer are prescribed by the user, all the rules are automatically calculated, all the thicknesses are computed and presented, and rounded up to the commercial values and which reinforcements need to be dimensioned are defined. The user then should dimension these structural elements by selecting the profile type, thickness and height of the web, and thickness and length of the flange, such as stiffeners and/or girders of the bottom, double bottom, sides, double sides, decks, and bulkheads; solid and open floor, side stringers, frames, bottom and deck girders, deck transverses, bulkhead girders, and webs. Besides verifying if the structural strength values are in accordance with the classification society rules in each and every step of the dimensioning process, the program also shows a sketch of the Midship Section that is redrawn at each decision change of the user. The program also verifies the global structural resistance; calculates the steel area, the hull girder section modulus, and moment of inertia; compares these values with the minimum rules requirements; and analyzes if the ship fulfills the longitudinal resistance. Soon after, based on the midship section, the sectional area and the transverse bulkheads positions, the program estimates the steel weight, and center of gravity of the ship. Finally, the user can generate a detailed Report that contains all the information produced by the program, as well as the calculation memory. An application example is presented.

Construction of productivity windows for fillet welds using the FCAW process for thin ship panel manufacturing

The FCAW process used filler metal E71T-11 of Ø0.035” to apply fillet welds with a size of ~4mm on T-joints made of ASTM A36 steel, in a horizontal position, using 42 appropriate combinations of wire feed speeds -WFS- (between 50 and 540 ipm), voltages (13-33V) and welding speeds (4.2-24.5 ipm). The test welds applied with each combination were inspected visually and by macro-attack to establish their compliance with the acceptance criteria for naval panels provided by the American Bureau of Shipping - ABS. With these results, Voltage vs. WFS, Voltage vs. Amperage and Heat Input vs. WFS graphs were constructed, and productivity windows were drawn over them including the combinations of welding parameters capable of producing welds of acceptable quality. The productivity windows obtained with this method, called ARCWISE, allow proper welding parameters to be selected during the design of WPSs avoiding iterative processes of trial and error.