Quantitative Nondestructive 5XXX Aluminum Material Assessments to Reduce Total Ownership Cost

摘要

With the expected service life of U.S. Navy ships extending to 30-50 years and beyond, the use of innovative technologies that enable predictable execution of maintenance, modernization,. and repair activities is critical to reducing the total ownership costs associated with the extended service life of these ships. If in the upcoming years the entire aluminum fleet combined, including Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), Future Frigates (FF), Aircraft Carriers (CVN), Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV), Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), and Ship to Shore Connectors (SSC), experience the same amount of destructive testing costs, sensitization-related cracking, and growth work per year as the CG class currently experiences, use of quantitative nondestructive aluminum sensitization material assessments could potentially reduce fleet-wide total ownership costs by up to $30 M per year [Dunn, 2015a].