A Portable Swaging Machine for Aircraft Carrier Purchase Cable Terminals

The Navy is interested in a swaging tool that can be used to attach arresting gear purchase cable terminals on ship. Swaging is a well understood process, and there are many suppliers of adequately powerful machines. In fact, a large swaging machine is used at Lakehurst NAS to attach terminals to the cross deck pendants. However, these machines are too large and cumbersome to be used in the shipboard environment. Creare proposes to develop a high power density swaging machine that is lightweight, portable, and used by shipboard personnel with modest training. In Phase I, we will develop a conceptual design for the portable swaging machine based on a technology previously developed by Creare for precision metal forming. During Phase I, we will also conduct proof-of-principle tests which demonstrate that the new process and equipment will provide comparable quality to existing methods. Our preliminary design indicates that the machine footprint could be as small as seven by four feet with a height of five feet and could weigh as little as 3,700 lbs. During Phase II, we will build a prototype and demonstrate performance with appropriate pull-tests and non-destructive evaluations. BENEFITS: This portable swaging machine technology will eliminate the labor intensive and inconsistent speltering process currently used to attach wire rope terminals on Navy aircraft carriers. The portable swaging machines will allow usage in cramped pouring rooms as well as movement throughout the ship. In addition, we are teamed with Felss GmbH, a worldwide leading supplier of custom swaging machines, to provide these machines to the Navy and commercialize our results.