Development of Composite Watertight Doors and Hatches for Navy Ship

This Phase I SBIR project is intended to develop lightweight, damage-tolerant and fire-resistant watertight composite doors and hatches for Navy ships. The salient features of the proposed door design include novel TYCOR(TM) composite panel with superiordamage tolerance and fire-resistance and integration of proven operating mechanisms. Lightweight TYCOR composite panel utilizes a patented fiber reinforced foam (FRF) core, integrally stitched skin and special fire-resistant phenolic foam and resin toprovide a superior combination of structural performance and fire tolerance. The watertight composite door will incorporate operating mechanisms, which have been proven on existing doors, thus ensuring reliable, trouble-free operation with reducedmaintenance. The proposed door and hatch design is also applicable to doors and other watertight enclosures in military and commercial ships as well as in boats and yachts. There are numerous commercial applications of this technology in marine, transportation,industrial and construction.