Simulation of Ship’s Systems for Decision Support to Damage Control on the Collins Class Submarine

Richard Stacewicz Veronica Jeleniewski-Boere

Department of Defence Defence Science and Technology Organisation

Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory Maritime Platforms Division

PO Box 4331 MELBOURNE VIC 3001

Keywords:

Simulation, damage control, submarine, decision aid, real-time display, ship’s system, training

ABSTRACT: The control of fire and damage to equipment on a submarine is critical to the survival of the boat and crew. The enclosed environment of a submarine dictates that a rapid response to an incident is vital, to ensure the operational viability of the boat and the safety of the crew.

The submarine’s systems, as well as the submarine’s operation and damage control procedures, are simulated on a computer. This simulation supports and enhances the implementation of the decisions needed to combat the spread of fire, smoke and equipment failure. The simulation also provides the commanding officer with a real-time display of the operational status of the boat.

As well as supporting the submarine in fulfilling its mission, the simulation can also be used on-shore to train the officers and crew to be better prepared to perform their duties.

1. Introduction The operational effectiveness of a submarine depends

on the timely response to damage. Efficient damage control is essential to ensure the safety of the boat and its crew, and to enable the boat to survive whilst maintaining its fight, manoeuvre and float capability [1]. To survive, the crew must be able to quickly:

• identify the location and extent of damage • contain and control damage • reconfigure systems instantly • maintain fire power and mobility On the Collins Class submarine, the damage control

headquarters (HQ1) is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date picture of the submarine, damage incidents, availability and use of resources, effectiveness of containment and restoration action [2]. The HQ1 coordinates damage control activities and is expected to achieve priorities set by the Commanding Officer.

Damage and casualty information is written manually on an incident coordination board and incident card. The display of damage and equipment-related information on incident boards, with manual updating methods, does not provide realistic and correct assessment of damage effects. In the absence of decision-making aids, damage assessment is dependent on the level of expertise within HQ1 and the ability to analyse displayed information and relay actions and procedures for containing the incident [3].

Simulation of the submarine’s systems and equipment will provide HQ1 with a more realistic assessment of the total damage control scenario. The simulation will also coordinate more realistically the

availability of equipment and systems so that the resulting limitations on the submarine’s ability to fight, move and float can be determined more accurately.

2. Current damage control system The incident coordination board presently used by HQ1 for monitoring damage control displays:

• the general arrangement of the boat, hatches, doors and valves

• the halon and aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) fire suppression systems

• the location of emergency breathing monitoring equipment and portable air tanks

• the location of thermal imaging cameras • the location of first aid stations and AFFF refill

stations • the location of support party personnel • the status of communication allocations • the status of equipment unavailability

Typical incidents that can occur onboard the submarine include:

• fire • flood • high pressure air burst • hydraulic burst • hydraulic failure • toxic gas • emergency stations • collision dived and surfaced • communication failure • electrical distribution failure Various books and manuals are used by HQ1 during

damage control incidents. The immediate actions,

recovery actions and follow up actions are outlined in the operating procedures book [4]. The procedures for isolating systems and equipment are outlined in the kill card manual [5]. The ship’s information book contains the description and schematics of all the equipment and systems onboard the vessel [6].

The current damage control system is labour intensive and relies on records of damage and casualties being manually written and displayed on an incident board. This method, besides being slow, can lead to inaccuracies due to human error [3].

3. Simulation of decision support to damage control

The management of damage control on a submarine can be improved by using a computerised method of recording, displaying, analysing, evaluating and monitoring the damage control environment [7].

The Commanding Officer needs an overview of the actual and expected capabilities of the submarine while the HQ1 focus their attention on maintaining the required capability. The status of the submarine is displayed on the Ship’s Status screen as shown in Figure 1. The status is displayed in an easily, understood form using coloured buttons for rapid interpretation and evaluation.

Operational capability is displayed using a green colour, unserviceability in red, impaired operation in orange while a maintenance condition is shown in a grey colour. The buttons in the menu box are used to navigate to other modules of the platform management system. The report button displays a text report on the status of systems, equipment and personnel.

The Incident Coordination Board screen as shown in Figure 2 is used to record incidents reported during the damage control operations. The buttons at the top of the screen are used to record the incidents occurring in a compartment. The outline of the submarine is used to navigate to each compartment. The status of equipment in each compartment can also be noted by selecting the location of the item on the plan of the compartment.

The ship’s manuals are accessed in the Collins On-Line screen as shown in Figure 3. Selecting the title of the book accesses the books. For example, on opening the kill card book, an interactive table of contents is displayed as shown in Figure 4. On selecting the title of a chapter or topic, the contents page of that section is displayed as shown in Figure 5. Selecting any topic from a content page immediately displays an interactive screen as shown in Figure 6.

The status of systems and related equipment involved in damage control actions is recorded in the kill card manual and monitored using the appropriate status colour coding. A typical display displaying the various stages of isolation of the high pressure air system during damage control is shown in Figure 6. The status information recorded on these pages is immediately updated on the Ship’s Status and Incident Board screens.

Damage control is also monitored using system schematics as shown in Figure 7. The status condition of a system is also recorded and displayed using the

colour coding for easy understanding and interpretation. The status condition recorded on any schematic is also immediately updated in the Ship’s Status, Incident Board and Kill Card screens.

Assessment of the consequences of damage and isolation of systems is assisted by the provision of an interactive simulation. An example of an interactive simulation is shown in Figure 8. These simulations can be used to gain an appreciation of the damage control situation, the implications of the main incidents and their likely development, and the planning of appropriate countermeasures

4. Conclusion The value of a computerised platform management

system is its high level of contribution to the performance, safety and survivability of the submarine.

The paper has shown that the incident board currently used in the Collins Class submarine can be replaced by an interactive computer display system which also uses simulation of decision support to damage control.

This computerised damage control allows the status of systems, subsystems and their ancillary equipment to be presented to the damage control headquarters and the Commanding Officer in a clear, concise and functional manner.

The use of interactive systems has been shown to provide Officers with the current (actual) as well as predicted capabilities of systems in the submarine. This enables them to improve the quality of their decisions to ensure the performance, safety and survivability of the Collins class submarine.

5. Acknowledgments The authors thank Mr Simon Graham for his

contribution to software development and Mr Brian Crowley for graphics design. Appreciation is also expressed to Chief Petty Officer Gary ‘Chook’ Fowler, Submarine Sea Training Group, HMAS Stirling, for his collaboration on technical design and systems validation. The encouragement and support of Mr Peter Hugonnet, SUBSAFE Manager, New Submarine Project is gratefully appreciated.

6. References 1. Slaven G., K. Sixsmith and S Garner. Electronic

damage control information displays: an evaluation. Paper 23, Fourth International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition. Surviving the War. (April 1998)

2. Australian Book of Reference 5993. Collins Class Submarine Damage Control Manual.

3. Patnaik S. K. and A. P. Raghina. Battle damage control system –an effective tool for surviving war. Paper 23, Fourth International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition. Surviving the War. (April 1998)

4. Australian Book of Reference 6009. Collins Class Submarine Operating Sequencing Procedures.

5. Collins Class Submarine Kill Cards Manual 1998 6. Australian Book of Reference 6284. Collins Class

Submarine Ship’s Information Book.

7. Verhaart A. and W. van der Zwan. Simulation of systems availability as a management tool to improve survivability – a tool for ship design and operation. Paper 12, Fourth International Naval Engineering conference and Exhibition. Surviving the War. (April 1998)

7. Author Biographies Richard Stacewicz graduated from RMIT University

with B App Sc (Chemistry) in 1972. He is currently working on the modelling of the spread of smoke in

naval vessels and the design and development of computerised platform management systems for the Collins Class submarine.

Veronica Jeleniewski-Boere graduated from the RMIT University with B App Sc (Metallurgy) and then completed an M Sc (Metallurgy) at Melbourne University in 1981. She is currently working on the modelling of the spread of smoke in naval vessels and the design and development of computerised platform management systems for the Collins Class submarine.

Figure 1: Status of the boat displayed on the ship’s status screen.

Figure 2: Incidents recorded on the incident board screen.

Figure 3: Ship’s books accessed in the Collins On-Line screen.

Figure 4: The table of contents displayed by selecting the title of a book in Collins On-Line.

Figure 5: Access to system isolation procedures and system schematics.

Figure 6: Display of the status of the high pressure air system using colour coding.

Figure 7: Use of a schematic to display the status of the high pressure air system.

Figure 8: An interactive simulation of the main bilge system.