Apparently those new CNC bending machine was invented to built type 55 DDG. Not only is type 55 the largest ship in Chinese navy it is also the highest level of manufacturing accomplishment sofar
It propel Chinese shipbuilding to the next level
This article also show Chinese navy placed the importance of crew comfort when designing war ship, supporting the argument of people who said type 56 was designed with crew comfort in mind
Type 055: the "secrets" of manufacture for the biggest Chinese destroyer
BY
The new Type 055 12,000-ton destroyer is not only the largest first-class warship ever built for the Chinese navy, but it is also, according to the latter's own words, the highest level of manufacturing. of shipbuilding in China.
Several of his "secrets" were revealed for the first time by the Chinese army in
. Here are some excerpts ...
Type 055, man's needs at the heart of his design
Launched at the Changxing Jiangnan shipyard on June 28, 2017, the first Type 055 series had already "met" its future crew well before. Indeed, when this new Chinese destroyer was still in state of plan, the engineers of the 701 Institute, design office specializing in the design of naval naval CSIC surface warships, have already shown the interior layout of several compartments to the sailors and officers of the Chinese Navy who will receive the building by 2019.
But contrary to all expectations, the first return on the various cabins and compartments was rather mixed.
A first master "machine" spoke of unpleasant odors of sweat and oil could become persistent, after each service, if the space is too confined and not sufficiently ventilated. Others point out, for example, the lack of height of the floor in the access to the two helicopter hangars, which could impact the movement of personnel and equipment.
With these many returns, the designers have reviewed some of their designs, even for those who have already been frozen. Ten scale-scale physical models, such as those for the officer's and sailor's cabins, were then built so that the crew could test their future living environment to the smallest detail. A fundamental change in the way of working that is unthinkable in the past.
"The first quality of a new vessel is the full satisfaction of its crew," said the deputy general manager of Changxing Jiangnan Shipyard, "The man remains at the heart of the design of any weapon, and not the opposite. "
Innovation = Risk?
GENG Long (耿 隆), assembly workshop manager, still remembers his decision.
According to the specifications of the Chinese Navy, speed is an important criterion for the new Type 055 and the use of a certain "special" lighter material seems to be the best technical choice that exists, although it is very easily deformable during welding.
GENG should then face the dilemma, between a new material whose welding was still a technical difficulty throughout China at the time, or another conventional material whose characteristics and work process are mastered. The schedule imposed by the client, the Chinese navy, is so tight that any risk-taking is inconsiderate.
It was only after nearly a thousand tests that the GENG team finally found a particular process that allowed them to choose the path that seemed to be much riskier at first.
But to weld the materials together is only a first hurdle, how to bend them into different shapes for the hull modules is quickly becoming another major challenge for the Chinese shipyard.
The SKWB-2500 three-dimensional cold bender is able to exert a pressure of 6,000 tons on a sheet metal
European manufacturers went to China to observe the Chinese bending machine
Cold 3D bender patents filed in China, USA and Japan
A team combining the design office, the shipyard and the special machine manufacturers was formed quickly to develop .
Faced with this giant machine capable of applying pressure of more than 6,000 tons, Changxing Jiangnan chief engineer laughs: "This is the artifact that finally solved all our problems ...".
"This project is like a net that has pushed us to develop all innovations, as small as they are, and to weave them together," says GENG not without emotion.
A "millimetric" project that puts man under the orders of machine
The launch of the first Type 055, a form totally different from the usual Chinese warships, quickly made the buzz on the Internet in China.
"Everyone at the construction site has given their heart and soul to this beautiful façade," says the "master welder" CHEN Jing Yi (陈景毅), voted best worker in China with several patents in the field of welding by the pocket, "He we are asked to control the size of each main module to an accuracy of 2 to 3 millimeters, so that the modules can assemble without major adjustment, but no one had managed to find the method to do it at the beginning. "
Two more Type 055 destroyers simultaneously under construction at Dalian Shipyard
During the analysis meetings, some experts point out the process and the quality management, stressing that even if the processes were correct and are assisted by the robots, but the control was always done according to the personal experience of each technician .
CHEN, with his team, then embarked on a project to network all the welding machines and connect them to a large database, in order to precisely control the parameters of each welding spot.
"Before, it was the man who said to the machine how to do, now it is the machine that guides the man in each of his gestures," says CHEN, "All the parameters are pre-configured in each machine, including current and voltage, and the system will automatically shut down welding and human work if things go out of tolerance. "
Before it is a revolution in the everyday working method for technicians, it is above all a major cultural change for them and for the Chinese industrialist.
And this is probably the most important added value brought by the Type 055 project.
Henri K.
