STAUFF Hydraulic Lines in Shipbuilding

MOBILE MACHINERY CONNECT ION TECHNOLOGY W ith 11,000 employees bringing in sales of some €2.5 billion, 6,000 ships built in just under 100 years, 35 shipyards and twenty other companies in twenty countries, the Damen Shipyards Group based in Gorinchem/Netherlands is a real force in European shipbuilding. And Damen’s product range is just as impressive: It ranges from work boats and tugs (including the well-known “Shoalmaster” and “MultiCat” series) through to ferries, naval ships and mega yachts. All in all, the Damen Group built and delivered 143 ships in 2021. Another important business sector is ship conversion and modernisation. Work is exceptionally varied at the Hardinxveld site where in 1927 the Jan and Riem Damen brothers founded the company as a small boat-builder’s yard. Maintenance, repairs, conversions of ships and the construction of new ships up to 90 metres in length are undertaken here. The site manufactures components for oth- er sites in addition to building 14 to 16 work boats every year. This work is undertaken by the Damen Shipyards Components busi- ness unit with some 100 employees working at Hardinxveld. TOP QUALITY EXTENDING INTO EVERY TUBE CONNECTION DETAIL Damen ships are renowned for their extremely high durability and service life. This is seen in a host of details, including the tub- ing of the numerous lines which are needed for the various hy- draulic applications on work boats, such as winches and cranes. Whilst other shipyards have relied on detachable connections for many years, Damen still preferred welded joints up to now. Mar- cel De Bruin, Piping Manager at Damen Piping at Hardinxveld, was an advocate of welding and sceptical about detachable tube connections: “Of course welding is expensive, you need experi- enced specialists and it is less flexible when it comes to repairs or conversions. But a non-detachable, welded pipe connection practically lasts for ever.” FROM WELDING TO DETACHABLE LINE CONNECTIONS The fact that Damen Piping was nevertheless looking around for an alternative in 2018 had a lot to do with its need for greater flex- ibility and a higher work rate. It was also linked to the fact that highly reliable detachable connection systems were now avail- able. Damen Piping turned to the Netherlands-based hydraulics specialist JB Hydraulics about which detachable system to use. JB had already supplied the Damen site in Hardinxveld with a vari- ety of Stauff hydraulic components (pipe clamps, fittings, mea- suring equipment). It was therefore self-evident to the hydraulic experts at JB Hydraulics to propose the Stauff Form Evo forming system – all the more so as they had had positive experiences with it in other demanding applications. 01 Various products from the Stauff connection and fastening technology range are used at the Damen Shipyards Group’s Hardinxveld site 02 The Stauff Viton® sealing ring is suitable for both steel and stainless steel tubes 03 Marcel De Bruin (l), Piping Manager at Damen Piping, and Mark Kramer (r), JB Hydraulics Sales, are convinced about Stauff Form Evo 38    O+P Fluidtechnik 2023/07-08  www.oup-fluidtechnik.de 02 01