The continuous development of shipbuilding technology has led to significant changes in shipbuilding materials and ship design. The application of laser technology in shipbuilding has its unique characteristics, which is closely related to the processing and application characteristics of the ship itself and the characteristics of the laser manufacturing system. So, what are the specific applications of laser in ships?
In recent years, "precision shipbuilding" and "rapid shipbuilding" have become the main trends in the development of shipbuilding industry. Laser cutting technology has developed rapidly, accounting for more than 70% of the entire laser processing industry. The shipbuilding industry mainly uses steel plate as raw materials. Laser cutting of plates can replace some punching and cutting methods that require complex large molds, greatly shortening the production cycle and reducing the cost. After using laser cutting machine to cut materials and canceling the assembly allowance, the phenomenon of on-site repair and cutting is eliminated, the waste of labor and materials is reduced, the frame assembly speed is significantly accelerated, and the assembly quality is significantly improved.
At present, flame cutting, plasma cutting, shearing and laser cutting are the main cutting methods for hull plate parts in the shipbuilding industry. Compared with laser cutting, other cutting methods have many disadvantages. In the field of shipbuilding, laser cutting avoids the problem of uneven cutting quality caused by setting cutting allowance on the rib plate and manual cutting in order to ensure the assembly clearance during plasma blanking of the rib plate. So as to reduce the assembly workload, assembly cycle, material and labor cost waste.
The marine steel plate cut by laser has good cutting quality, good verticality of the cutting surface, no slag, thin oxide layer, smooth surface, no secondary processing, direct welding, small thermal deformation, high curve cutting precision, reduced matching hours, and barrier free cutting of high-strength ship plate.
In the domestic shipbuilding industry, laser cutting does not occupy a dominant position. The main reasons include: ① the cost of laser cutting is higher than that of traditional cutting methods; ② The large-scale laser cutting equipment is not suitable for the manufacturing characteristics of the shipbuilding industry, such as on-site construction, sectional operation, complex working environment, etc; ③ There is no obvious advantage in cutting efficiency, especially for thick plate cutting in the shipbuilding industry; ④ The maintenance of laser equipment is complex, which requires high workers and high cost. In view of the special requirements of ship outfitting board for cutting machine and the diversity of profile processing shapes used in hull structure, the current situation of the industry is discussed.