ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF INTEGRATING VACUUM ASSISTED RESIN  TRANSFER MOULDING PROCESS FOR THE LIFECYCLE COST OF BOATS

Hand Layup (HL) and Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM) are the standard composite manufacturing techniques used for boat manufacturing around the world. Analysis of the literature and survey data suggest that, there is a definite knowledge gap within the boat building sector of Sri Lanka in identifying the LCC benefit of VARTM integration compare to the HL. Furthermore, most of the boat builders in Sri Lanka are lack with VARTM technology transfer  opportunities. This thesis investigates the effects of integrating VARTM for the life cycle cost of boats.   Improvement of mechanical properties of the structures, weight reduction, less health issues, less production time, less manufacturing waste, and higher product quality can be identified as the main advantages of using VARTM for manufacturing boats. The design and manufacturing guidelines were developed by using survey data and know-how generated from manufacturing boat  prototypes using VARTM. A knowledge transfer hub (BBE-hub) and the one-day workshop were used to communicate research findings with the boat building sector of Sri Lanka. Tools of Lifecycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) and Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) were employed for  comparing VARTM and HL techniques. The boat model called “Samanala” was selected for the case study as it is one of the most commonly used boat types in Sri Lanka. LCCA was conducted for the boats manufactured using HL and VARTM processes in four phases, which include design, production, utilization, and disposal. It was identified that the LCC distribution in design,  production, utilization, and disposal phases were 0.70%, 4.27%, 94.89% and 0.14% for HL based  process and 0.83%, 5.88%, 93.13% and 0.16% for VARTM based process respectively. It was  concluded that, although the contribution of design, production and disposal phases for the total  LCC is approximately 7%, the efficiency improvement of design and production phases will contribute approximately 10.04% of significant LCC reduction in the utilization phase. Based on the LCC and LCA results, it can be concluded that the integration of VARTM to manufacture  boats reduces the risk for health issues, improve structural strength, enhance quality and increase LCC savings compared to the HL technique. Therefore, it can be recommended to use VARTM for boat manufacturing to achieve economic, social and environmental benefits.