DLBA & Leidos Combination: Even More to Offer in Strong and Lightweight Structures

The team has designed and classed vessels to ABS, DNV, Lloyd’s Register and ISO rules and has experience   interfacing with scantling societies during the design process for technical review and consultation related to various vessel designs. Sea Hunter and Seahawk are advanced wave-piercing trimarans, designed to ABS HSNC. They were analyzed using the team’s advanced Finite Element Analysis (FEA) design capability (Altair Hyperworks suite of software) using ply-based modelling to create and analyze a whole vessel model. Leidos also has extensive hydrodynamics modeling experience with a variety of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools, including generating pressures and loads to apply directly in the FEA model. This analysis is used to identify areas of stress concentration and complex global structural modes to optimize vessel structural geometry and laminate schedules via material selection, patching, and fiber orientation. This analysis has been successfully used to tailor the structural laminate design for noise and vibration damping in super yachts: reducing the need for heavy sound damping materials. Our team also has extensive experience in defining composite reinforcement design material properties for Carbon, Kevlar, and e-glass reinforcements and in optimizing laminates to yield weight savings. Weight savings may be realized via a construction method change (carbon prepreg vs e-glass hand laid or infusion) or via optimizing reinforcement and core selection. Our team also has composite kitting experience whereby reinforcements and core are precisely cut to aid manufacturing repeatability and quality control to yield improved parts that can reduce weight associated with unnecessary overlaps and resin filled voids.