Objective:
To develop a watertight door, called the Improved Advanced Watertight Door (IAWD), to full commercial availability.
Summary:
The Navy Standard Watertight Door (NSWD)-the U.S. Navy’s quick acting interior watertight door, installed almost universally on US surface ships-has long been a chronic consumer of maintenance and repair manpower and funds. Heavy and prone to corrosion, its complex dogging mechanism consists of many separate parts that suffer wear, making these doors expensive to maintain over the ship’s life cycle. The majority of NSWDs suffer the loss of watertight integrity under a typical deployment as is regularly documented under routine chalk testing during ship overhaul periods. The goal of this project is to introduce an interior watertight door sporting an entirely new design based on a revolutionary metal fabrication technology (advanced laser).
This project seeks to promote a highly successful, developmental watertight door, called the Improved Advanced Watertight Door (IAWD),to full commercial availability as an available option for use on surface ships in place of the existing Navy Standard Watertight Door(NSWD). Minor modifications for fire-resistance and a few other requirements will be designed and implemented, backed up by finite element analysis to ensure against degradation of any of the IAWD’s operational characteristics. Appropriate primer and paint will be determined, and installation protocols will be developed for installation of the door in new construction or as a replacement for the NSWD in existing vessels. Final testing and certification for resistance to shock, vibration, fire, and EMI will be performed, and Navy standard drawing packages will be generated for right-handed and left-handed configurations. IAWDs will be fabricated to satisfy all of the developmental and testing requirements.
Key Deliverables / Benefits:
Request Final Report from NSRP – Limited Distribution authorized to Department of Defense and Department of Defense contractors only
Project Results – Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
Point of Contact:
Terri Merdes, Penn State University Applied Research Laboratory
Overview
Project Team:
- Penn State University Applied Research Laboratory
- Marinette Marine
- Aero Nav Laboratories
- Southwest Research Institute
August 2013 - August 2014
NSRP ASE Investment: $1.2M
Industry Investment: $630K