Advanced Composite RO/RO Ramps with Active Controls for Sea State 5

Current Navy Roll-on/Roll-off ramps and RRDF platforms for in the stream cargo transfer are limited to operation in sea state 3. New concepts of Expeditionary Warfare require greater standoff distance, resulting in operational exposure to conditions up tosea state 5. Foster-Miller proposes a system study that incorporates our large composite bridging expertise with the RO/RO experience of MacGregor, Inc, the Class Standard supplier of ramps for the Navy. The composite material will be 25 percent lighter,more corrosion resistant, and have greater overall strength and flexibility.The Foster-Miller system will include active controls to isolate the ramps and cargo from the extreme wave motions and forces. Floating body relative motions will be developed using state of the art software. The key focal points of the program will besea state 5 capability, weight savings, and operational efficiency.Foster-Miller will team with MacGregor Inc, and also Professor Paul D. Sclavounos, Director of the MIT Laboratory for Ship and Platform flows, a leading expert in relative motion studies. The program will develop concepts that will be risk reduced inPhase II with follow-on model basin testing and commercialization through MacGregor.(P-030205) The development of cargo transfer systems for conditions up to sea state 5 will be a useful technology to the Navy, in sync with the future long term goals of the Military Sealift Command (MSC), and upgrades to the LMSR fleet purchased under theStrategic Sealift Acquisition Program (SSAP). Lighter weight structures with the ability to handle the high relative motions imposed by sea state 5 will enable the greater stand-off distances anticipated by new concepts in Expeditionary Warfare.Many commercial sea cargo companies could benefit from advances in the technology proposed here. Large ocean going vessels could be reliably offloaded or re-stocked without needing to dock in a deep draw harbor, reducing reliance on ports with large vesselcapability, and increasing global distribution capability.