Research Areas:
The mission is to help US shipbuilding industry become more competitive with foreign counterparts and to reduce the Navy's acquisition costs. The center fosters research (both industry and in-house) to meet the mission objective.
Areas of Expertise:College of Engineering faculty has considerable experience in all engineering disciplines, especially those involving present and recently completed research projects as follows:
Integrated reliability, maintainability, availability (RAM) database for ships; shipboard fiber-bragg optical fiber sensors; technology transfer process in shipyards; inexpensive non-toxic paint pigments; development of a catamaran for the worldwide market; development of design guidelines to minimize high speed catamaran hull motions and structural cracking; low cost digital image photogrammetry, integrated environmental management plan for shipyards; shock reduction of hull planing boats, evaluation of Cr(VI) in the shipbuilding industry; ship propeller thrust and torque measurement; development of the "Coanda Effect" for applications in marine vehicles; integration of fire tolerant design and fabrication of composite structures; chromium free conversion coatings; development of a knowledge-based engine for distributed propulsor design.
Special Capabilities and Facilities:
Maritime Environmental Resource Information Center (MERIC) which addresses environmental needs and regulatory impact on ship building industry.
Simulation-based Design Center (SBDC) (creates virtual reality, which enables designer to perceive that he or she is inside object, such as ship, equipment, etc.).
Shipboard sensor design via optical fibers (Fiber-Bragg Gratings).
Research Equipment:
The Gulf Coast Maritime Region Technology Center has many types of equipment including computers, specialized cameras, potentiostat, and various laboratory equipment. The following is a list of major equipment costing more than $25,000 each:
Compaq Proliant 2000 File Server
Specifications: Pentium processor file server with 164 MB RAM, RAID level 5 Disk Array with 5-2.1 GB and 5 9.0GB Disks for total of 45 GB useable space. Windows NT 4.0 Server Operating System.
Benefits: File server is used for file storage, file sharing, printer sharing, and backup purposes. File server also serves as primary domain controller for the College of Engineering.
Ship Structures Test Frame
Specifications: The structural testing system consists of a space frame ten feet high, and twenty feet long. Six hydraulic actuators each provide a force up to 50,000 pounds on test components. The actuators are powered by a seventy-five horsepower hydraulic power supply. The position and imposed load on each actuator is continuously monitored by a 48-channel control and data acquisition system.
Benefits: This testing system allows physical testing of large-scale ship structural components in a laboratory environment. It is designed to allow maximum flexibility in the types of experiments that may be performed, such that wide ranges of test configurations are possible. By allowing large scale testing of structural shapes, scale effects are minimized and an assessment of viability of a particular design can be accurately made. Unique capabilities of the testing system include multi-axis tension, compression, shear, bending, buckling, and torsion testing of lightweight materials including composites.
Argon Oven (Manufacturer and Model Number-DESPATCH LND-2-11-3; 480V, 9000 Watts, 13.1A 60Hz)
Specifications: 25c to 343c; water cooled: forced convection inert atmosphere
Benefits: Reduced oxygen concentration at elevated temperatures with circulating gas to minimize oxidation at elevated temperatures and maintain an inert atmosphere. Many materials react with oxygen at high temperatures and regular high temperature ovens cannot be used to test materials and/or chemical mixtures.
Onyx RE2 Super-Computer(Silicon Graphics, Inc.)
Specifications: Eight 200 MHz processors, 4 Gigabytes memory, 8 Gigabytes disk, 3 RE2 graphics pipes, Multi-Channel Option, Sirius Video.
Benefits: The Onyx RE2 is a powerful combination of supercomputing and visualization technology. It takes digital manufacturing technology to a higher level by enabling the visualization of whole-product designs and allowing engineers to replace early physical prototypes with complex visual simulations. Onyx RE2 gives developers the power to represent incredible 3D virtual environments into which the digital prototypes can reside. This Unix based computer supports photo-realistic, high-resolution virtual reality applications such as real time rendering of 3D computer-aided design models. Engineering professionals are able to realize the key goal of obtaining more information earlier in the design process and to enable true concurrent engineering. The Simulation Based Design Center used the power of the Onyx extensively in performing visual simulations for Mcdermott shipbuilding during the Mobile Offshore Base project and is scheduled to be used more intensely in the CVX Carrier Simulation project. This is the first system capable of full-product interactive digital prototyping. Full-product visualization is enabled by the systems’ unparalleled graphics and multiprocessing capabilities. These technologies combine to provide interactivity with fully detailed models.
Power Challenge XL(Silicon Graphics, INC.)
Specifications: Eight 90 MHz processors, 2 Gigabytes memory, 8 Gigabytes disk.
Benefits: The challenge XL is a Unix-based network resource server for database applications, digital media, and integer computing system. It has a cost-effective, symmetric multiprocessor architecture that is powerful and flexible, and is based on a 1.2GB/second sustained bus, which minimizes time-wasting contention between I/O, memory, and compute subsystems. The challenge XL is used as a file server at the Simulation Based Design Center. It serves the realm of extreme data as a deployable machine unmatched in CPU and I/O throughput capabilities. Complementing these hardware strengths are software advances which create industry-leading file server performance for the Center. The Simulation Based Design Center Used the power of the challenge extensively in performing mechanical computations for McDermott Shipbuilding during the Mobile Offshore Base project and is scheduled to be used more intensely in the CVX Carrier Simulation project especially in the area of computational fluid dynamics. The Challenge XL is a scalable file server that is easy to manage, has high availability, and has the ability to consolidate multiple servers to reduce system administration requirements.
Barco 1208 Projectors(BARCO)
Specifications: Three Stereoscopic Projectors, Five Stereoscopic Glasses, XN Switcher, Horizontal Scan Frequency Range 15-135 kHz, Ultra-wide bandwidth RGB amplifiers(120 MHz)
Benefits: The BARCO 1208 is an ultra high-resolution projector which provides high performance viewing. It is equipped with super high-resolution 8" electromagnetic focus CRT's and high-definition optics. The BARCO 1208 projector renders large screen images with unprecedented visual fidelity on screens up to 6m wide. These projectors are the centerpiece of the Center's theater and are frequently used including using the stereoscopic view to gauge the depth of an object or design.
Other Equipment
("s" indicates shared equipment)EG&G Potentiostat - measures erosion rates(s)
SUN-SPARC-70 workstations - process data for research projects(s)
Kodak DCS-460C's - high resolution cameras used for close range photogrammetry(s)
Air quality analyzer - used to measure organic pollutants(s)
Q-panel cyclic corrosion tester - uses a salt spray to speed the effects of corrosion on test panels
Keywords:
0606000 Civil Engineering