Automated Ship Breaker

Proposed design for automated ship breaker

Shawn L. Fratis 2021

My proposed design is for an automated and portable apparatus to be used for the demolition of ships and other large pieces of machinery.

Ship breaking is one of the costliest and dangerous professions known. Along with being labor intensive, workers are subjected to very hazardous conditions ranging from falling debris to toxic fumes and chemicals. The process generally involves manually chopping pieces of the craft away with cutting torches and shears.

My apparatus would do the majority of cutting in a way that would minimize human risk, as well as be potentially faster, more efficient and cost saving.

The entire machine sits inside of a steel frame, which is supported by wheel arrays that allow the entire machine to be mobile. The wheels themselves are distributed to create a large enough wheelbase to allow it to move across sand and dirt in order to access ships that have been beached.

Inside the steel frame is a sub-structure that contains a track system that moves in the X, Y and Z axes. On these tracks are the cutting torches, which themselves have all axes of motion.  

The entire apparatus is wheeled into place to cover the entire ship. The cutting torch array starts at one end, cutting down through decks and bulkheads. A method is used where the cutting torch cuts two parallel lines. One is to cut through the steel while the other only weakens the steel to allow it to fall, allowing access for the torch array to get to the next deck below. This is continued until the torch array reaches the lowest level of the ship. Side torches ensure that the hull is properly cut from top to bottom.

The entire process is automated, using NC code.

Once the section is cut, built-in crane mechanisms ensure that the section is lowered, or dropped to the ground, so that it may be moved away by tractors to be cut down further by crews with cutting torches.