The Royal Netherlands Navy has selected Second Lieutenant Kevin Stouten's thesis “Special Forces Containers” as winner of its annual Van Hengel-Spengler Award.
Kevin Schouten researched the application of glued steel inserts in a composite pressure body, such as Special Forces Containers. These cylinder-shaped, composite containers are placed outside of a submarine's pressure hull and can be used to store the equipment of marines. These containers will be penetrated by manholes and holes for pipes and cables. As every hole weakens the structure, an insert is used to prevent this. In his research, Stouten came to the conclusion that glued steel inserts are a viable option for these inserts.
The jury was impressed by the results Schouten achieved with his innovative research in a relatively short time. So far, little research has been done into the combination of composite with a steel insert and glue.
Van Hengel-Spengler Award
The Van Hengel-spengler Award is presented to the best operational innovation, designed by students up to 35 years of age. The winning research has to be able to lead to new insights, concepts or innovations, that contribute to improving the operational deployment of naval units.
The other two nominees were:
- Ms.ir. Sietske Hendriks – research into the applicability of Fredyn in the design of a frigate with axe bow and skegs, and
- Mr.ir. Ruben Zandstra – research into generating a large set of different designs by modelling a mine countermeasures vessel with 2.5D functional building blocks.
