Ex 8 Read the text and answer the questions.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 393.

1. How do CAD and CAM work?

2. What ship characteristics can be computed?

3. How are computers used in the production process?

The powerful calculating facilities of modern computers are nowadays widely used in ship design to test new ideas and to optimise the construction processes. The computer is a saver of thousands of hours of calculations which had to be done manually before. Both computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) use electronic data processing to analyse the requirements which the design needs to meet and to produce the best possible solutions. The high working speed of modern computers enables the naval architect to consider a large number of alternatives.

There are few areas of ship design that cannot be simulated by CAD. Apart from the obvious issues of draught and displacement, and the compromise between the sleekness of the ship's underwater lines and her internal capacity, other features such as stability, speed and water resistance can be computed. Importantly, features that have proved successful in other designs can be employed and tested, thus ensuring a continuum of technical progress. Elements which have proved troublesome in earlier designs can be improved. The computer also enables the naval architect to test the design for strength and stress levels and the effects of fatigue during the ship's lifetime. In this way the design can be improved well before any steel is cut or parts are manufactured.

Models of the ship's internal parts can also be built up on the screen. They allow the engineers to find the best way of installing the vessel's systems, such as pipe-work and wiring. Other programs can ensure that steel is cut economically, that the sections are assembled in exactly the right order, and that all the necessary parts are available when they are needed.