Low Cost, Very Lightweight Composite Hatch Design and Testing

"Surface combatants have hundreds of hatches and scuttles that provide compartment-to-compartment water, weather and electrical isolation. Steel hatch weight is a safety issue in rough weather and emergency situations, particularly with an increasingpercentage of women in modern crews. In Phase I KaZaK Composites designed and demonstrated in half scale a new hatch system that reduced moving weight of a hatch by as much as 80% compared to the metal baseline. The new composite system was projected tohave approximately the same installed cost as the present steel hatch. Corrosion resistance of composites will reduce life cycle cost. KCI also demonstrated a new type of composite material having fire properties that Phase I testing showed to be, in someformulations, better than other conventional composite solutions. In Phase II KCI will continue to evaluate this new composite material, update and finalize hatch designs with the new and conventional composites, then fabricate and test full scale hatchsystems from the best material. Tests will demonstrate the ability of the composite system to meet fire, EMI, shock and other mechanical and operational requirements. In the Option Phase installation on a DDG 51 by our program partner, Bath Iron Works, isplanned."