ENHANCED LOADING CAPACITY AND SERVICE LIFE OF WIRE ROPE CORE MATERIALS BY ION IMPLANTATION

IN 1979 BATTELLE COLUMBUS LABORATORIES STUDIED ADVANCED WIRE ROPE. HOWEVER, THEIR EXCESSIVE COST NULLIFIED THEIR UTILITY FOR IMPROVED DECK PENDENT AND PURCHASE CABLE RELIABILITY AND LONGER LIFE. ALTERNATIVELY, EXTRA IMPROVED PLOW STEEL (EIP) OFFERS THE BEST COST/TECHNICAL BENEFIT PERFORMANCE. EIP-S MECHANICAL PROPERTIES DEGRADE, HOWEVER, UNDER SEVERAL OPERATING FACTORS. FIRST, THE HIGH-VELOCITY TRANSVERSE IMPACT OF THE ARRESTING HOOK CAUSES NOTCHING BETWEEN WIREELEMENTS WHICH CAN LEAD TO INSTANTANEOUS FAILURE. SECOND, WHEN THE ROPE SLIDES ACROSS THE ARRESTING HOOK, A WHITE AND BRITTLE OUTER LAYER (UNTEMPERED MARTENSITE) IS FORMED BY THE RAPID THERMAL CYCLING ASSOCIATED WITH HOOK ABABRASION AND CAN RESULT IN CRACK FORMATION AND SUBSEQUENT FATIGUE FAILURE. THIRD, ABRASION OF THE DECK PENDENT BY THE ALUMINUM/EPOXY NON-SKID FLIGHT DECK CAN CAUSE NOTCHING AND FAILURE. CONSEQUENTLY, DECK PENDANTS LOSE 81% OF THEIR UNABRADED FATIGUE LIFE. LASTLY, FATIGUE ALSO OCCURS IN THE PURCHASE CABLE FROM REPEATED CYCLING THROUGH BELOW DECK ARRESTING MECHANISMS. THE LIABILITIES ARE LOSS OF AIRCRAFT AND NAVY PERSONNEL. ION IMPLANTATION OFFERS A GERMANE SOLUTION TO THIS CRITICAL CONCERN OF FATIGUE AND FORMATION OF UNTEMPERED MARTENSITE IN EIP. SPIRE-S IMPLANT TECHNOLOGY IS WELL ESTABLISHED IN COMBATTING HIGH AND LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE AND/OR ROLLING CONTACT FATIGUE FAILURE IN BEARING-GRADE AND TOOL STEELS. SPIRE-S RECENT EXPERIENCE INDICATES THE POTENTIAL FOR COMPLETE ELELIMINATION OF THE PROBLEM BY IMPLANTING THE "STINGER" HOOK AND CABLES FOR TOTAL MECHANICAL ENHANCEMENT. IMPLANTS OF B, C, N, SI, Y, CR+MO, CR+N, TI+C, TA+C, AND NB+N, INTEGRATED WITH MATERIALS AND MECHANICAL ANALYSIS, WILL CONSTITUTE THE PHASE I TECHNICAL APPROACH. ION IMPLANTATION