THEME 1 : SHIPBUILDING AND LEISURE BOAT-BUILDING

Elastomers are used in joints for harbour basin gates, offshore flexible tubing and engine and transmission anti-vibration systems on ships, trains and vehicles. How these materials behave remains unclear. Elastomers when new are highly watertight and shock-resistant but do not wear well in the harsh conditions of excessive heat, pressure and weight imposed by the marine environment. At present, it is hard to determine the limits of their resistance to such onslaughts. The aim of the FEMEM project is therefore to characterize fatigue and ageing in elastomers.

A damaged piece of elastomer means a potentially flooded dry dock, burst pipeline or halted machine. The safety of personnel, installations and the environment is at risk. To eliminate such risks, manufacturers are now producing and testing numerous prototypes to evaluate product reliability. This involves them in significant development costs and delays. Manufacturers sometimes opt too to produce oversized prototype components despite the high cost of raw materials. Plant managers also have to incur unnecessary costs in replacing components where lifespan prediction is impossible.

FEMEM aims to improve understanding of the evolution of elastomers when subjected to fatigue and a challenging environment and to incorporate the resultant parameters in a tool to aid elastomer component sizing: a great deal is at stake in terms of competitiveness for manufacturers seeking reliable, well-designed components and in terms of safety for users looking to minimize maintenance and risks.

FEMEM PROJECT PARTNERS

Companies

• DCNS-Services Brest,

• TRELLEBORG-MODYN, Nantes, one of the world’s leading suppliers of elastomer components,

Research centres

• ENSIETA, Brest, “Mechanical Engineering of Vessel Structures” Lab,

• IFREMER, Brest, “Materials and Structures” Department,

• UBO, Brest, Rheology Lab.

Contacts :

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