Support

Damage tolerance and structural integrity

We apply engineering and analytical tool expertise to a ships structural and mechanical systems throughout its life.

Our damage assessments also consider the effects and long-term fate of issues from corrosion and mechanical damage to vibration, cracking, fabrication and design faults: 

• Design support covering fatigue strength or damage tolerant design assessment, material and structural optimization for lower maintenance, evaluation of nonlinear structural behaviour and response to vibration.
• Remaining life/failure assessment including structural or mechanical system failure assessment, damage or degradation accumulation on system life and development of novel techniques to define the significance of undesirable features (e.g. dents).
• Vibration and impact load assessment including ballistic impact and penetration simulation and vortex induced vibration.
• Remedial action definition including definition of inspection and maintenance requirements, development and documentation of system modifications or repair solutions
• Training courses covering damage tolerance and condition-based maintenance together with development of and training in structural integrity assessment software (e.g in FlawCheck).
• Modelling tools for material including metallurgical testing and assessment as well as Finite element modelling tools (e.g. ANSYS, ABAQUS, LS-DYNA), solid modelling and drafting tools (e.g. SolidWorks and AutoCad) and fatigue and failure assessment tools (e.g. FlawCheck, Nasgro).

Maintenance solutions

We help our customers realise performance, availability, reliability, cost and schedule improvements through effective maintenance management systems. Our management and consulting abilities help you develop, implement, execute and sustain these systems, at a fleet as well as ship level.

As well as on-site Port Engineering or Availability Project Management for vessel construction and modification, we support maintenance management in two key ways: 

• Asset Performance Optimization sees us work to schedule maintenance and develop defined procedures, as well as supporting maintenance infrastructure, corrosion prevention and control inspection and mitigation and managing a rotatable maintenance pool.
• Asset Planning sees us design and develop maintenance programmes covering FMECA (failure modes effects criticality analysis), LORA (level of repairs analysis), maintenance task analysis as well as condition monitoring and trending.

Design change

Our deep technical understanding of complex legacy platforms across all naval platform design disciplines sees us recognized by many of the world’s navies as experts in design change.

From life extensions to complex capability upgrades and combat systems integration, our Chartered Engineers bring a comprehensive range of skills to support, maintain and improve naval platforms. The aim, as always, is to facilitate design change that supports a high level of fleet time availability and operational readiness through affordable and timely solutions.

Design, analysis and verification.

• Design from first principles through to producing detailed drawings and design change work packages.
• Application of Classification Society rules and military standards.
• Essential analysis and feasibility guidance at each stage from concept design to through-life support.
• Structural design disclosure documents and condition surveys to support structural certification.
• Stability design disclosure documents and inclining experiments to support stability certification.
• Design disclosure documents and surveys to support other areas of certification, e.g. propulsion and manoeuvring, escape and evacuation, fire, explosives and aviation safety.

Finite Element Analysis (FEA).

• Experienced in linear and non-linear structural problems.
• Expertise working with commercial FEA software tools (including ANSYS® and PATRAN®).
• Resolving issues from equipment seating design to deck-superstructure connection analysis and whole ship strength assessment.

Disposal

Our deep technical understanding of complex legacy platforms across all naval platform design disciplines allows us to understand and develop disposal or sales solutions as platforms reach the end of their useful life.

From disposal or developing design change solutions to enable selling on a platform to another user or developing end-of-life disposal solutions (e.g. Green Passports), our engineers bring a comprehensive range of skills to deliver affordable and timely solutions.