Project Overview
To build a wave machine to help study how vessels, submarines, and other technologies perform under real sea conditions.
Wave machines generate precisely controlled waves in test pools, allowing defence organisations and scientific researchers to do this safely and accurately. Models are placed in the water; the wave machine does the rest, producing waves of specific height, frequency, and force to simulate conditions that would be impossible to replicate at full scale.
This isn't the first wave machine Armadillo Engineering has built for this client. Based in Malmesbury, UK, Armadillo has been manufacturing the structural frames for these machines for over 20 years.
A track record that reflects the consistency and reliability Armadillo brings to a technically demanding, repeat-production contract. The client is a specialist supplier whose systems are installed in test facilities worldwide.
The Challenge
The nature of the application demands exceptional accuracy. This particular machine operates across a pool up to sixty metres wide, with many computer-controlled paddles working in unison to generate consistent wave patterns.
For that to work, every fabricated component has to be made to tight tolerances. Even a small variance in the frame can throw off the paddle's movement, compromising the accuracy of the test.
The machine is also a highly complex assembly. Every part of Armadillo's manufacturing capability, fabrication, laser cutting, waterjet cutting, machining, milling, folding, finishing, and assembly is used to manufacture it. Getting all of these processes to work together, to tolerance, within demanding lead times, is the challenge on every build.
Photo credit: Client & Technical drawing
Scope of Work
Armadillo Engineering manufactured the complete structural frame and component set for the wave machine, taking the product from raw material through to a finished, pre-assembled unit ready for electronics installation.
The process involves:
- Structural fabrication of the main frame
- 5-axis waterjet cutting of precision components
- 4kW fibre laser cutting
- CNC machining and milling
- Press braking and folding
- Polishing and finishing
- Full assembly prior to handover
Materials are predominantly stainless steel, with aluminium used across a number of machined components.
Armadillo also carries out ongoing DFM (Design for Manufacture) work on the product, to identify opportunities that can simplify components, reduce manufacturing time, and improve consistency build to build.
A key development over the past year has been a DFM programme that redesigned several components to reduce heat input during welding. One example: where welded plates were previously causing distortion in the frame, the design was reworked to use a bolted stud-and-bracket assembly instead, introducing heat into only a small, isolated section rather than the full component.
The result is a frame that holds tighter tolerances with less rework, and a product that is faster and more cost-effective to build without compromising performance.
Scale & Delivery
The modules measures up to five metres in length and weighs approximately half a tonne. Given the number of paddles and the precision required at each fixing point, the build involves a significant number of individual components.
Lead times on this type of project are consistently tight. Armadillo works to meet them as closely as possible, maintaining close communication with the client throughout the build.
The Outcome
The wave machine was delivered to specification, meeting the tight tolerances the application demands. It continues to perform as part of the client's testing programme.
Whatever the challenge, we'll find a way to build it. Tell us about your project
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