High-Strength Liquid Crystal Polymer Reinforced Deck-Edge Netting Suitable for Marine Environment

Netting is currently used on U.S. Navy ships to provide fallprotection for landing/maintenance crews. This netting in pastyears was fabricated using metallic cord and at present isconstructed from nylon braid. The metal nets were quite durable,but added to the ship radar cross-section and were heavy. Thenylon used now is lightweight and has no radar signature, butmust be replaced every 12 to18 months due to UV degradation andabrasion. Foster-Miller utilized high performance Liquid CrystalPolymer (LCP) fibers to address the Navy's need for an improveddeck-edge safety net with a 5+ year life-cycle. During Phase I,lightweight cords were produced and tested for their ability towithstand harsh marine environments and loading conditions. Testresults indicate that superior mechanical properties andweatherability can be achieved using cords with high-strength LCPfiber based cores. During Phase II, Foster-Miller's advancedlong-life netting will be refined and installed on a selectedNavy vessel such as a DDG-51. Netting fabrication schemes willalso be developed that significantly reduce the logistics burdenand time for assembly/installation. In the option phase on-sitetraining of enlisted personnel will be conducted and appropriatetraining documentation will be prepared. (p00378)BENEFITS: Our long-life netting will provide the Navy with a lightweight personnel safety webbing which will be inexpensive to maintain and robust enough to last 5+ years in harsh marine environments. Government and commercial applications for long-lifesafety nets are numerous and include a number of near-term and future applications. The cords alone can find use in markets such as sonobuoy cables, ship handling cables, helicopter rescue cables, parachutes cords, stainless wire replacement, and trawlcables. On naval vessels, applications such as emergency egress trunk nets, save-all nets, or cargo nets are excellent examples where this technology can be used.