The use of portable steel roll-forming machines to fabricate mobile structures is an emerging technology gaining traction within the U.S. Navy.
Cold-Formed Steel Mobile Factory
The Naval Construction Force has developed the Cold-Formed Steel Mobile Factory (CFSMF) at the Contingency Construction Crew Training facility on board Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Miss.
“The Navy’s priorities are for the Naval Construction Force to be able to build structures anywhere in the world and quickly,” says Justin Richards, senior chief equipment operator at the Naval Construction Group.
For this reason, CFSMF uses steel studs and cladding instead of traditional lumber for its building construction.
“Using steel versus dimensional lumber to frame helps overcome the lack of material availability, high cost, or a wide logistics footprint for the latter,” Richards says. “Plywood and other materials for framing take up a lot of space when embarked, and the elements can easily damage the wood.”
Navy Training Changed to Include Steel Framing
According to DVIDS, Seabees from the Naval Construction Group participated in a two-week course last fall. Students used the mobile factory to fabricate materials required to build a small doll house. In the past, this course would have featured traditional lumber. Since Seabees have used traditional wood framing for more than 75 years, the use of CFS framing and roll-forming machines represented significant changes to the program.
“These machines can immensely improve our capabilities across the world,” says Jonathan Wagner, a student who completed the training. “There are advantages for this type of application versus traditional framing methods. The metal structures have a longer life expectancy [and are] significantly more durable.”
Article cited from BuildSteel.org
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