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means eliminated, by the effects of infla- tion. ?You pay up front,? Textron?s Moore says. ?The value of the money you spend today will not be worth the same as the money you save later.? According to Wolk, the workshop pro- vided an opportunity to get key people within the Navy and titanium communi- ties to discuss the potential for construct-ing a demonstration titanium T-craft mid-hull section. ?It allowed us to take a look at the current state of the technologyand assess limitations hindering the ad-vancement and use of Ti for ship struc- tures. There are still challenges in using Ti for ship structures, primarily in the area of cost and large scale ship yard im- plementation. Reducing the acquisitioncost and total ownership cost is critical for future use of Ti on naval craft.? Wolk thinks there is much to investi- gate. ?We need to conduct more research in the areas of joining, such as the use offlux for contamination reduction; ad-vancement of friction stir welding for Ti applications; certification of new tech- nologies; large scale quality control within a shipyard to prevent contamina- tion, mishandling, etc.; and taking ad-vantage of Ti properties to reduce the amount of welding/joining necessary fordifferent structures.? ?While we are making progress, thereis still a great deal of advancement that we can do and that ONR is currently in-vesting in,? she says. Wolk points to the technical advance- ments in new Ti grades and technologies from the supplier side that help bringdown the cost. ?One of the big questions a reader might have is, ?Why haven't we looked at this before and why are we looking at this now?? How has the envi- ronment changed? I think a lot of it hasto do with a higher level shift in priorities that have moved us to a more mobile, more total ownership cost-conscious Navy. There are existing (and well doc- umented) problems for other materialsthat lead us to explore Ti.? T-Craft The Navy has been investing in re- search on titanium ship structures as partof the Transformable Craft?or T-Craft? Sea Base Enablers - Innovative Naval Prototype (SBE-INP) program.Because the T-Craft is such a novel ship design, new design models and analyti- cal tools must be developed. New tech- niques must be explored involving materials such as aluminum, titanium,and composites to be able to make ship components that are lighter, stronger, longer-lasting, and not prohibitively ex- pensive. New power systems need to be tested, such as high-speed generators andpermanent magnet motors, to make pos- sible lighter, more efficient drive assem- blies for lift fans, air screws, and main propulsion.Three T-Craft mid-hull sections are being built from different materials?alu- minum, composite and titanium?forcomparison. ?This research can also ben-efit other classes of Navy ships and sys- tems. The goal is to share this technology to increase capability while simultane-ously reducing life-cycle cost,? said Capt. Chuck Gunzel, a naval engineer who has been involved in the T-Craft INP. ?For example, if it can be shown that a T-Craft can be built economically using titanium, imagine how the costly maintenance packages on other classes of ships couldbe reduced using similar material choicesup front. The goal is to work closely with academia, industry, and the Navy to achieve the art-of-the-possible.? Bolderson found the workshop valu- able. ?It brought together capable peo-ple with the common purpose ofexamining Ti as a material choice for shipbuilding.? ?The capability to construct a Ti vessel is at hand,? Bolderson says. About the Author Captain Edward Lundquist, USN (Ret.) is a principal science writer with MCRFederal LLC in Arlington, Virginia. 62Maritime Reporter & Engineering News FEATURE MARINE MATERIALS MR March 12 # 8 (56-64):MR Template 3/2/2012 8:42 AM Page 62