HYPERFORMANCE SYNTHETIC ROPE

HYPERFORMANCE ARMOR IS PROPOSING A UNIQUE PROCESS FOR FABRICATING MATERIAL INTO NON-ELECTROSTATIC, CONTAMINANT RESISTANT, ULTRA HIGH STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO YARN THAT CAN BE USED AS CORES AND SHEATHINGS FOR NON-METALLIC ROPE FOR HELICOPTER HOISTS. THE ROPE FABRICATION PROCESS IS DESCRIBED. VARIOUS FIBERS AVAILABLE FOR THE PROCESS ARE PRESENTED. EMPHASIS IS ON HIGH MODULUS FIBERS ABLE TO HANDLE HIGH STRESS LEVELS WITH LITTLE OR NO DEFORMATION IN THE FIBER. CANDIDATE HIGH MODULUS FIBERS ARE INORGANIC (GLASS, CERAMICS, GRAPHITE AND STEEL) AND ORGANIC ARAMIDS (KEVLAR AND KEVLAR VARIANTS) AND POLYETHYLENES (SPECTRA, DYNEEMA AND OTHER VARIANTS). THEIR PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS ARE PRESENTED. THE POLYETHYLENES REPRESENT THE LOWEST DENSITY FIBERS, ARAMIDS AND GLASS FIBERS BEING ABOUT 1.5 TO .18 TIMES HEAVIER. GLASS AND CERAMIC FIBERS ARE APPROSIMATELY 2.5 TIMES HEAVIER THAN POLYETHYLENES, STEEL IS THE HEAVIEST FIBER WEIGHING ABOUT 8 TIMES THAT OF POLYETHYLENE. THE WEIGHT OF THE ROPE PER UNIT LENGTH DEPENDS ON THE LOAD, TENSILE STRENGTH OF THE FIBER AND DENSITY OF THE MATERIAL. ROPE DIAMETER VARYING FROM 0.044" (GLASS) TO 0.08" (STEEL) ARE SHOWN FOR COMPARISON.