Develop an improved damper cylinder for carrier arresting gear

The military utilizes shock absorbers to dissipate and damp extreme amounts of kinetic energy over very short durations for applications such as aircraft arrestments on carriers and rail gun recoil. These shock absorbers must accommodate large displacements and endure repeated failure-free shock events within harsh marine operating environments. While a few large shock absorbers exist for non-military applications, such as earthquake protection for skyscrapers and offshore oil rigs, they operate over very small displacements (inch scale) and are not suitable or adaptable for these military applications. There is an unmet need for an improved, large-scale military shock absorber. We propose an innovative shock absorber that meets the Navy’s extreme requirements and eliminates failure-prone hydraulic components such as hoses, fittings, mechanical valves, and pumps. In Phase I, we demonstrated the feasibility of our approach. In Phase II, we will develop a sub-scale prototype for performance and reliability testing. In Phase III, we will develop a full-scale system for fielding into the Navy’s arresting gear system.