The first steel for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier was cut in Portsmouth last week by defence secretary Bob Ainsworth.
Ainsworth, a former sheet metal worker, switched on the new £1.1 million plasma cutter at the BAE System’s shipyard.
The plasma cutter, part of an £8 million investment in new plant and machinery, will handle the bulk of the cutting work for the lower block 2 section of the aircraft carrier.
The machine can cut the larger and thicker plates needed for the carrier – up to 50mm thick.
It operates underwater and can also be bevel-cut.
Stuart Vickers, steel production manager for BAE System’s Portsmouth site, said: “Our other, laser, machine is more accurate but can’t cut as thick as this. This machine is also less noisy and smoky”.
|
6,000
Weight in tonnes of lower block 2 being built in Portsmouth; the same
as a Type 45 destroyer |
65,000
Total weight in tonnes of aircraft carrier at full displacement – more
than 10 Type 45s | |
Engineers initially work in CAD to draw up the piece parts of the block and then transpose them from a library on to a CAD drawing of a steel plate. The computer-controlled cutting machine then cuts them.
Alan Johnston, managing director of BAE Systems Surface Ships business, said: “The scale of the engineering challenge is immense but progress is good. By testing earlier we can identify potential problems with the integration process.”
The first completed block is scheduled to leave Portsmouth in early 2012 for Rosyth, where final assembly of the two new carriers will take place.
© PE Publishing, 10 March 2010
