Manufacturing

Manufactured components require exceptional levels of quality, durability, precision, and reliability to meet the demanding requirements of Ship and Submarine applications.

Measurement Solutions

Taylor Hobson products deliver an in depth understanding of characteristics such as surface finish, contour, form, radius, roundness, harmonic analysis, alignment, straightness, flatness, parallelism and squareness providing vital feedback for improvements in design and production.

• Torpedo tube Alignment
• Periscope Alignment
• Ship and Engine Alignment
• Rudder Bearings Alignment
• Bulk head
• Refurbishment of ships’ engines
• ‘P’ Brackets
• Gun Barrel Alignment

Torpedo Tube Alignment

An easy-to-operate method of checking the straightness and diameter of torpedo tubes to within an accuracy of 0.05 mm (0.002 in).

This method also eliminates the use of long, cumbersome plug gauges and the need to dry dock the vessel whilst the checks are carried out. Recorded data is used to prepare a graph of the tube’s interior profile for comparison with a template which specifies the profile necessary for a torpedo to pass cleanly through the tube.

Periscope Alignment

Periscopes are the eyes of a submarine. A periscope which is operating in misaligned bearings needs more power in the motors to overcome this resistance. The resultant power surge results in a higher noise level being generated which can be easily detected by enemy search craft.

A periscope is mounted in a series of bearings located in the submarine fin and pressure hull structure. Alignment of these bearings is critical and any misalignment can result in distortion of the periscope and possible damage to the bearings themselves.

Ship and Engine Alignment

Shipbuilders and marine engineers are well aware of the problems in verifying that the alignment of a ship’s propulsion machinery is correct. This particular problem is to align the position of a ship’s engine in relation to the propellor shafting and stern tube. The principle of the method is to set up a Micro Alignment Telescope coaxial to the engine axis.

Rudder Bearings Alignment

The straight line of sight made by the telescope can be used to align the bearings in the ship’s rudder.

‘P’ Brackets

After collision with an object, it is important to check that the engine/gearbox, propellor shaft bearings and ‘P’ bracket bearings are all still aligned. A mirror target is mounted in an adjustable holder and mounted onto the gearbox spindle. The telescope, with lamphouse fitted, is set square and in line with the mirror target.

Refurbishment of Diesel Engines using Boring Bar

A common use of boring bar alignment is refurbishment of large diesel engines such as ship and locomotive engines. The problem involves worn bearings needing to be realigned before being rebushed and the bush recut using a boring bar.

The solution, a reference line of sight is made by sighting through the front and rear bearing. Bushes (shells) are then placed in each of the bearings, and all aligned in anticipation of the boring bar. Normally a hollow boring bar is used, and wire targets are placed inside the bar at regular intervals to monitor its straightness as it moves into and along the engine bearings. Wire targets are often used because they do not have any glass and therefore do not refract the light and cause optical errors. If glass is used light will be refracted through each target and error produced.

Without moving the telescope, the telescope is refocused on the boring bar at the various cutting positions to ensure the boring bar is travelling in a straight line and that any sag is removed. A camera system with dedicated software makes the adjustment of the boring bar easier since the image can be viewed by the operator as adjustments are made.

In some rare cases, a solid boring bar is used. Here a mirror target can be put onto the front nose of the boring bar and the telescope used in auto-reflection or autocollimation mode. In these modes a mirror target enables the telescope to be put in line and square to the boring bar.