|
Modeling and simulation tools
help shipbuilder design next-generation carrier
Virginia Business
April 2006 The last time Northrop Grumman Newport News designed
a new class of aircraft carrier was in 1968. Engineers
relied on pencils, paper blueprints, and trial-and-error.
Now tasked with another redesign, the company is going
completely high-tech.
The CVN-21-class aircraft carrier,
scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2015,
is being designed
virtually, using the latest in modeling and simulation
tools. Ship designers and engineers will work their magic at the company’s
newly unveiled Aviation Ship Integration Center (ASIC). The center includes
a pair of new state-of-the-art laboratories inside the Herbert H. Bateman Virginia
Advanced Shipbuilding and Carrier Integration Center (VASCIC) in Newport News.
“This technology allows our designers and engineers to say, ‘Let’s
see if we can move certain components or certain systems around so that we can
optimize the design before we spend significant amounts of money doing the engineering
and construction work,’” says Irwin F. Edenzon, vice president of
technology development and fleet support for Northrop Grumman Newport News, the
nation’s sole builder of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. “And
that will reduce the risk of the overall program, because we’ll be confident
that when we complete the design, it will actually meet the requirements we’ve
set out to meet.”
Ship designers will work in the 9,000-square-foot SimLab, which houses modeling
and simulation tools, an integration facility for validation of new concepts
and designs, and a collaboration center for government and industry partners.
Meanwhile, other designers, engineers and technologists will take up residence
in the 2,400-square-foot FlexLab, which houses a full-scale mock-up of a portion
of the warfare command and decision center of the next-generation carrier.
Edenzon notes that having all of the key personnel working in one place will
speed the process, reducing cost and risk for the company and the Navy.
|
