Precision plasma cutters help speed aircraft carrier production

Each cutter employs an advanced fully-synchronised four axis motion control system to provide the precision of movement needed for tight tolerance, large-scale profile cutting. Four HS 4000 hi-definition cutters delivered by Dewsbury-based Techserv Cutting Systems, the specialist manufacturer of CNC profile cutting systems, and based on Baldor Electric Company of Bristol's digital servomotors and drives, are installed at the Appledore (Devon) shipyard of Babcock Marine Division, one of the principal members of the UK's Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) which is responsible for building the new ships. The Appledore shipyard is involved in building the steel bow sections of the warships, which are then transferred to Babcock's Rosyth (Fife) shipyard for integration and final ship assembly. The first of some 20 consignments from Appledore, comprising 11 fabricated units weighting between 20 and 36 tonnes each, were shipped by barge to Rosyth in the summer of 2009. The plasma cutters are capable of producing high quality cut parts from steel plate sheets up to 5 metres wide and up to 35mm thick and are capable of cutting at speeds of 50 to 16,000mm per minute. The ACA is a consortium of companies including Thales UK, BVT Surface Fleet and Babcock.