ABS, Sembcorp Marine, 3D Metalforge and ConocoPhillips Polar Tankers Inc. (Polar) have created, tested, and installed functional additive manufactured parts on board the oil tanker Endeavor.
For this project, the consortium used Additive Manufacturing (AM) to create three types of parts that surpass conventionally manufactured products in terms of quality. These AM parts have passed approval, reliability and safety tests.
It’s a key development in a technology that certainly has a significant role to play in the future of the industry. ABS is committed to ensuring these types of parts are introduced without compromising safety
noted Patrick Ryan, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Engineering and Technology.
Also known as 3D printing, AM is the creation of parts by adding material layer by layer. This means that products and components can be created locally or -in the future – on board ships and offshore assets. This would reduce the supply chain and lead times for complex parts, launching new efficiencies driven by design innovation, reduced manufacturing time, and improvements in parts availability.
Safety and reliability are of the utmost importance to the operation of our vessels. Additive manufacturing has the potential to offer some exciting new opportunities to support these goals
believes Robert Noyer, Polar Tankers Engineering Superintendent.
ABS has been supporting the industry with the introduction of AM since 2017, when it published an Advisory that provides an overview of metal AM technologies, technical challenges and tradeoffs, changes to the design process, quality and reliability.
Μoreover, in 2018, ABS released new Guidance Notes that establish a consistent approach for qualifying AM systems and facilities to produce parts for the marine and offshore markets. Central to this new guidance is developing a process that helps manufacturers create repeatable and reliable results.
