Water Barrier Towed Array Hosewall

Triton Systems Inc proposes to develop a new tow array hose to address the US Navy"s need for reducing moisture permeation through the thermoplastic polyurethane hosewall of fat line towed arrays (namely TB-34). The proposed hose will incorporate proprietary barrier technology within its construction that prevents permeation of moisture. The new construction is expected to reduce the permeation rate of moisture in the towed array hosewall by up to 5 times and hence overcome the problem of hydrophone failures due to saturation of the isopar fluid from the migrating water molecules. The Phase I will demonstrate the feasibility of developing the proposed new hose wall for fat line towed arrays and quantify the extent of improvement achieved over the baseline material. The work will help determine the optimum hose wall construction required to achieve the performance goals. We will work closely with a towed array hose manufacturer which will help transition this technology in commercial applications. This will set the stage for further product development, process optimization, large scale manufacturing, integration into towed arrays and field testing during the Phase II and beyond of this project.