5 | 31 | 2016
A weekly publication of Newport News Shipbuilding
O38 Non-Destructive Test Team pictured (L to R): Shawn Morro, Parker Judkins, Ralph Motley, Manager of Non-Destructive Testing Jerry Campbell, Russ Hopkins, Joseph Powell, Derrelle Gray, Richard William, Tyrell Beasely, Kenyada Curry, Gregory Paitsel. Photo by Chris Oxley
NDT Inspectors Save Months Going Digital Over the last few years, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) inspectors started using a newer technique called Eddy-Current testing (ET). This process involves gliding a small stylus over the surface of a weld – like using a highlighter on paper – and watching a connected screen that shows any hidden cracks or air pockets in the weld. Ergonomically, it’s a lot easier to hold a tiny stylus then a heavy magnet. NDT Manager Ralph Motley advocated the technique for years, seeing it becoming a standard in the industry. Last year, apprentice Francisco Sisneros added another layer to the idea while working with the integrated Digital Shipbuilding (iDS) team. He saw that 3-D visual work instructions could help the inspectors identify each weld joint on a painted unit, eliminating the need to re-label each joint for inspection. This meant that the welders could completely finish a unit, send it to blast and coat, and then the inspectors could inspect all the welds at once. In January, they took the idea for a test drive, using it to inspect a unit of a Virginia-class submarine (VCS) with 691 weld joints. They completed the inspection in just five days. The inspection process for the same unit on the previous submarine took 180 days. “I had two weeks left with the digital shipbuilding team, so I just sat down and figured out how to make what was in my mind,” said Sisneros. “It made me feel like I had the ability to make a difference.” In April, the inspectors applied the idea on another unit called the VCS Lab Array, the complex structure that houses much of the submarine’s advanced listening systems. Another apprentice, Shawn Morro, developed the 3-D visual instructions. Working back-to-back shifts, the inspectors completed more than 300 welds in two days. The same job the year before took 67 inspection days over a period of nine months. NDT Manager Jerry Campbell was ecstatic. “We have definitely set the bar of manufacturing components using the blast and coat process with ET as the preferred inspection method,” said Campbell. “The welders achieved a 100 percent pass rate. Overall, we reduced the schedule for this job by 97 percent, and our inspectors performed their job in 87 percent fewer man hours.”
HII Awarded Advance Planning Contract for Enterprise (CVN 80) Last week, Huntington Ingalls Industries was awarded a $152 million contract for advance planning for the construction of the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80). The third aircraft carrier in the Gerald R. Ford class was named in honor of the U.S. Navy’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN 65). The work, which includes engineering, design, planning and procurement of long-lead-time material, will be performed at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division through March 2018. Construction on Enterprise is slated to begin in 2018 with delivery to the Navy in 2027. The new Enterprise will eventually replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) when... CONTINUED ON PG 2
The Community Congratulates NNS on 130 Years Visit the 130th Anniversary website to watch new congratulatory video messages. New videos are added to the website each week.