JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC SHIELD CASE STUDIESReal Submariners Don't Stop to Ask for Directions
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CUSTOMER PROBLEM The navigation system of a modern submarine is vital to the performance of its mission. Precise, instantaneous knowledge of the submarine's exact position is not only critical for navigation, but also for the proper operation of its weapons systems - hitting a target at precise coordinates demands knowing your present position and velocity to a very fine resolution. The prototype of a new submarine class suffered anomalies in the navigation system outputs, apparently caused by operation of another major system on the boat. The engineers turned to Magnetic Shield Corporation to help them find the best solution. Two engineers from the customer's facility visited our factory for initial general discussions. They returned to their headquarters confident in our capabilities and engaged Magnetic Shield Corporation to design and furnish a solution. |
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MAGNETIC SHIELD SOLUTION Actually, we discovered that several of the ship's systems were affected by the interference from another major system. Today's sleek submarines with their necessarily compact use of space combined with tight traffic patterns and hatches made our design of custom CRT enclosures to protect the submarine's monitor displays unique. Custom enclosures were fabricated specifically for each location. These shield enclosures utilized a split in each shield to reduce the size of each piece that had to fit through the hatchway, yet maintained the shield performance required. The submarine's navigation equipment presented us with even greater challenges. A visit to the submarine gave us the opportunity to see the unit in place and the location where our shield would be employed. The navigation unit could not be demounted or disassembled to allow installation and mounting of the magnetic shield; we again took advantage of split construction to fit our shield around the stationary navigation unit. In addition, the tightly packed confines of the submarine severely limited the space we had to use for moving the shield components into position and assembling them. Working closely with the customer, Magnetic Shield Corporation proposed a shielding technique that allowed shield assembly within these tight restrictions while meeting the strict performance requirements. After fabrication of the shield by Magnetic Shield Corporation and completion of the customer's performance testing program, the shield was successfully installed to insure proper operation of the navigation unit. |