Low Cost, Pultrusion-Based Composite Joiner Panel System with Simplified Installation

"KaZaK Composites proposes, with Bath Iron Works and Newport News Shipbuilding, to develop and demonstrate a new joiner panel system that makes substantial material, configuration, manufacturing and installation process changes to the system currently inuse on Naval vessels. At least two of the primary components, the joiner panel itself and the coaming, will be made from pultruded composites. Significant, cost-saving changes to techniques for attaching the coaming to the deck and the joiner panel to thecoaming will be investigated. Alternatives to the current cut-and-fit technology for patching the curtain plate around many overhead obstructions will be studied. A key component of the Phase I work will be a demonstration of joiner panel pultrusion usingKCI's 10-foot wide pultrusion machine. Advantages of pultrusion will include lower fabrication cost and the ability to make panels in arbitrarily long lengths. This will create a new installation cost and weight paradigm by reducing the number of joints.Phase I will terminate with a prototype demonstration, including a pultruded joiner panel, a new composite coaming, possibly a variation of the curtain plate, plus evaluation of new installation concepts. In the Option Phase we will perform FST and otherkey property tests. Successful completion of the proposed work will result in a light weight, low cost joiner panel system with a widespread market in both the commercial and military sh