Application of Structural Integrity Management Principles Demonstrated in Other Domains to Improve Seaworthiness and Cost of Ownership Outcomes

摘要

The release of the 2016 Defence White Paper provided Australian industry with many challenges associated with the delivery and sustainment of significant Defence capabilities. A requirement is that the whole of life costs need to be stated up front to ensure that each new capability is fully costed. This requirement built on some of the observations made in the 2011 Rizzo review where the primary focus was on acquisition costs rather than sustainment costs. An essential component of such a system is to establish a whole of life approach to managing the structural integrity of our surface ships. This approach entails understanding the basis for the original design and its structural certification, understanding the operational environment with respect to the design assumptions, the use of structural monitoring data and integrating it with structural condition assessments. The outcome of the approach would enable the capability owners to anticipate and mitigate risk to seaworthiness, cost of ownership and capability. Such a closed-loop program, termed a Structural Integrity Program, is applied in other domains and has yielded significant benefits through more informed asset decision making and planning. The ability to recognise a change in operational environment and assess the consequences for structural fatigue, and take action to mitigate risk due to structural degradation is just one example of a structural integrity activity that will deliver great value to operators. This paper describes a Structural Integrity Program in a maritime context and demonstrates the long term benefits to Defence by using relevant case studies.