Cubipod
SATO works as an expert in maritime projects on any research opportunities that it considers worthy of attention, within those analyzed in their numerous contacts with the world of research and engineering.
As the result of this joint work, SATO developed the UPV-LPC patent (Polytechnic University of Valencia- Ports and Coasts Laboratory) that develops a new part to protect armor. This part has been named CUBIPOD.
Protective parts emerged in response to the need for greater weights when the available quarry material is not heavy enough to maintain its stability against the swell. Therefore, parts are made of concrete (as a material that is easy to model) to get the necessary weight.
Tests carried out last century demonstrated that stability depends on the shape of the part to a large extent. Hudson characterized this dependence on a stability coefficient, Kd. From that point, the race was on to get more stable shapes.
Extrapolation to large part sizes demonstrated (after disasters involving slim parts in the 1970s) that the structural resistance of the parts was an essential factor in armor durability. From this point onwards, the resistance study led to more robust parts (acropodo, core-loc, x-bloc) and even an insistence on massive parts, such as the cubic or parallelepiped block (used exhaustively in Spain).
The cube had the advantage of being very easy to build and yet there were problems due to lack of connection with lower layers and their tendency to modify homogeneity in their porosity, compacting the lower part and leaving gaps in the top part, in a phenomenon that has been called “heterogeneous compacting”.
Josep Ramón Medina, UPV professor who has studied this phenomenon, dreamed up the cubipod to move beyond these disadvantages, adding protuberances to the sides of a standard cube to keep them at a distance from each other.
Within the CDTI framework, SATO works jointly on development and checking the technical and economic feasibility of the protective part, by carrying out laboratory and prototype tests, and studying part execution procedures to guarantee the following aspects:
- Hydrodynamic resistance of the part in the armor, in one and two layers
- Behavior during swell run-up and overflow
- Hydrodynamic resistance of the part on roundheads
- Structural behavior of the part against mechanical forces
- Formwork design and execution procedure
- Economic technical cost study
Both laboratory and prototype tests have been performed comparing against cubic blocks, as this is the most-used part in Spain and the Cubipod is designed to solve problems caused by this part.
Exceptional behavior in hydraulic tests, with coefficients that are much higher than for cubes, its lower run-up and overflow plus the chance to use it as a single layer part have opened up a wide field of application for the Cubipod. Its behavior in the structural resistance tests, the complexity of formwork and its cost (comparable to cubic blocks, although slightly higher) make it possible for the Cubipod to hold its own among armor protection parts worldwide.
SATO holds an exclusive license to use the patent. Marketing criteria have yet to be set, awaiting a complete feasibility study for the part.
