Advanced Structural Watertight Door System

Navy doors have been essentially built the same way for sixty years. The design has been proven in battle and sea use, but it also has been the source of significant maintenance and some safety concerns. Excessive weight and corrosion are the source of the continual maintenance. Door systems that solve the maintenance problems can be formed by a proprietary super plastic forming process. This process is capable of forming door systems that meet operational and pressure requirements while reducing door weight by almost 50% and eliminating corrosion. The process is also flexible enough to allow modifications to door stiffness and to accommodate door designs that are compatible with current ship bulkhead configurations. In Phase I, we will demonstrate that our approach is feasible through experimental validation and produce a preliminary concept design and associated component validation plan. In the Option Phase, we will develop and produce the designs for the super plastic forming tools.